Like anything, it is about understanding what you are and aren’t susceptible to.

Hard agree. I get sucked hard into good stories and know I’d lose a lot of time to them, so I refused to let myself start anything over 30,000 words for a period of time.

It should be a cost/benefit evaluation of “how much enjoyment will I gain from this game and is the time spent enjoying worth it compared to all the other things I could be doing?” Sadly some things hijack this decision-making, and with some things you really only get to try once before you get hooked. “Try everything once” shouldn’t include heroin. I think that’s part of why knowing if a game is addictive is helpful for some people, so they know if they can try it or have to stay away forever. I have heard enough stories of MMO addiction that I’ve decided that I should never play one.