One of my all time favourite video games is Civilization V. And while I've played MANY hours of this game, I've yet to exhaust the number of combinations of win conditions and civilizations that I could play. Since I only got the DLC recently that added the aspects of religion and spies etc. to the game I've not fully discovered all that I can do with those either.
During Extra Life I experimented by playing as Venice and had several puppet states under my control. When I played a new game last night I got to play as Portugal and use new techniques to get resources from city states. It's quite fun to try new civilizations to play as during this game.
One thing that I've noticed is that I really don't like going to war against other civilizations. I much prefer fighting barbarians and defending myself in the game when others attack me first rather than taking that initiative. I guess I find the other victory possibilities more engaging/interesting. And why not, really? Developing culture and tourism, diplomacy, religion, or science are all more interesting prospects and it's not as if I attack the technology tree in the same manner every time (I definitely don't).
I also like the fact that it's a turn based strategy game so I don't have to worry about speed to complete certain tasks. That said, I do prefer playing it with real life friends rather than solo (though solo is much more enjoyable now that I have the DLC that makes it so).
I think that it is fascinating to see how a civilization might develop given different conditions and strategies, hence why I so enjoy playing this particular video game. Sure there are downsides (it chugs a bit in later game times, certain civilizations are more frustrating to play against, and sometimes things just don't make sense), but I find the game somewhat addictive, definitely engaging, and well worth playing.