This reminds me to a video essay I saw a few months back. Guy explained that one of the metrics he evaluates game quality with, is how much the game manages to hide its game engine.

I think it makes a lot of sense, it's essentially an inversion. Another related thing I recall is hearing game creators talk in terms of "gimmicks" and "scenarios". Anything that gives a structure, a framework to operate within, I'd say is always useful. This is much the same.