There's a call to adventure. It's something in the inner psyche of humanity, particularly males.

Domesticated males aren't much use for adventure.

Random chance plays a huge part in everybody's life.

Somebody said they threw their copy of Dungeons and Dragons into the fire, and it screamed. It's a game! The magic spells in it are as real as the gold. Try retiring on that stuff.

There is no winning or losing, but rather the value is in the experience of imagining yourself as a character in whatever genre you're involved in, whether it's a fantasy game, the Wild West, secret agents or whatever else. You get to sort of vicariously experience those things.

Role-playing isn't storytelling. If the dungeon master is directing it, it's not a game.