This is a horrible question, because basically there is no answer.

People look for different things.  One person may look for a compelling story whereas another may just look for entertaining gameplay.  The only real answer I guess is ENJOYABILITY and that's as non-answer as you can get.

On top of that, people look for different things in different games.  In an RPG I want a story that makes me forget how much I hate RPG gameplay.  However, in a racing game I really don't care if there's a story at all, I want customization and fun gameplay.  In a sports game I want gameplay that's somewhat realistic but still arcade-y enough to where you aren't spending more time with realism than you are with just enjoying it.  So basically, your question is horrible and it has been asked on this website many times over the years and there is no answer.

Make the game YOU want to play, then if you do a good job with this chances are other people will want to play it too.

This is a horrible question, because basically there is no answer.

People look for different things.  One person may look for a compelling story whereas another may just look for entertaining gameplay.  The only real answer I guess is ENJOYABILITY and that's as non-answer as you can get.

On top of that, people look for different things in different games.  In an RPG I want a story that makes me forget how much I hate RPG gameplay.  However, in a racing game I really don't care if there's a story at all, I want customization and fun gameplay.  In a sports game I want gameplay that's somewhat realistic but still arcade-y enough to where you aren't spending more time with realism than you are with just enjoying it.  So basically, your question is horrible and it has been asked on this website many times over the years and there is no answer.

Make the game YOU want to play, then if you do a good job with this chances are other people will want to play it too.

If you want the short version of this: All people ever look for in a game is the game they want to play. The best you can ever hope for is to make a game you want to play.

A slightly longer version: If you are confident in your reasoning towards wanting to play a game made that way, then you owe it to yourself to make that argument in the form of a really fun game. Even if it's only fun to you and no-one else, you just got yourself the game you always wanted to play (As far as worst-case scenarios go, that's pretty rad).

it's all rhythm (no it isn't yes it is I dunno maybe)

but seriously if you aren't having fun moment to moment something's wrong with the design games should have like fractal funness (could just be because every game ever is repetitive as fuck about 90% of games are 'kill a hundred dudes then kill a hundred of these slightly harder dudes')

I'm not really joking I think this is the obsession with CBS but I think people get it wrong it doesn't have to be incredibly complex battle systems that need an entire novel to explain it I think even if it was exactly like the DBS the ability to fine-tune/tweak little things like how windows pop up is sort of a desirable thing because it's stupid in a game with one battle with only one turn before you win but repeat several hundred times and it would affect the flow of the game

i will talk mostly about RPGs, because everyone here loves RPGs.

things I like:
nice dungeons with lots of puzzles and thinking and/or exploring
well-balanced battles
good storyline/dialogue

i wrote up like a paragraph or 2 after tihs at first, but they can really be summed up as: i am more likely to stick with any game if they do not waste my time with stupid bullshit.

bad:
battles in ff9: lengthy pauses, and a relatively long intro showing monsters from different camera angles and shit
the observatory place in the original super mario galaxy. just let me go straight to the actual levels damnit.
slow walking speeds
slow text speed (ie half of rm2k games out there)
lots of backtracking through the same places with nothing new
repetitive battles with no strategy whatsoever (ie lots of RPGs)

it doesn't matter what engine you use, someone could make a game in rm2k using default battles and menus and rtp graphics if they do it right and i'd enjoy it.

Toilets
A number of houses/living space equal or greater than the number of NPCs in the area
More blood effects - I just did critical damage with a sword, there ought to be blood spraying everywhere!

- things that i can't get from other games, films, comics, books currently in existence. preferably lots of them.
- attention to detail.
- good understanding of pacing, player expectations, spacing and other structural elements of game design, especially those specific to computer based games.
- a coherent concept or message that is competently explored - meat.
- good use of surrounding media  - writing, music, visual art, cinema and animation, computer programming, electronics.