Some games end, but we do not quite leave them. I sometimes return to Red Dead Redemption 2—not to finish another mission, but to spend time in a world whose rules I already know.
Familiarity does not erase detail. The characters and their relationships look a little different each time, perhaps because I bring a different question with me. Social theory can be a light for looking; if it supplies the answer in advance, it turns the game into an example of a theory.
What I value in returning is the pause: a few hours away from the speed of ordinary days, watching choices, loyalties, and power. Maybe that is why a familiar world can still have something to say.