My two:
Very cliché, I played Ocarina of Time a ton as a child, have memories of playing it both on N64 as a wee child and on game cube as a less small child. Never got past water temple even with the game guide.
Yu-Gi-Oh forbidden memories. Played the crap out of that game on play station, constantly playing on free play praying for the cards I would need to get further. I was never able to beat more than 1-2 of the high mages. Watching speed runs on the game it turns out I was never ever going to beat that game as a kid. The final 6 are just disgustingly brutal.
For me its factorio. I always start, get into problems, realize I fucked up the layout and am thinking ‘better just start fresh’. So I have a couple hundred hours in the game, but I never completed it.
I mean I guess same with rim world and mound and blade warband 😅
But cmon now. All those games have a way to win, but winning isn’t the point!
Mine craft is pretty similar where if someone says they have played 1k hours and never killed the ender dragon it’s not like a skill issue. Just an inclination issue.
Every base is a starter base until you put lights and concrete down.