Dyson Sphere program has some great interplanetary and intersolar exploration and supply chain building. I thin that’s the more apt comparison.

I feel like the high from reaching a difficult objective wears off too quickly for me to really feel worth starting the next challenge.

I like factory or management games, even ones where it is expected you will fail, like Dwarf Fortress, because it’s not about winning or getting a high score. It’s about going in with an idea and setting it through to fruition. I like seeing things I spent a bunch of time on as a large concrete thing I can go back and look at again, and actually have it provide meaningful value in a direct way instead of just incrementing some number in the engine somewhere.

I still play some roguelites that are like that, but there is something nice about sandbox games where progress isn’t directly quantifiable.

Dwarf Fortress is great once you get past the steep learning curve.