A game that I have loved recently is Civilization 6. It is a strategy and building game where you create a civilization and try to win the game by developing your nation into a powerhouse with a few different win conditions. The mechanics evolve around exploring the map by moving various soldier types around a hexagonal map. Each player has cities within their civilization that grow in size, but require you to build centers and buildings in order to reap benefits. You then meet other nations where you can choose to engage in war or peacefully co-exist and even work together towards scientific or religions feats. It has many other features, but the exploration, building, and co-existing are the three primary mechanics that run the game. When combined, these create an extremely immersive environment where the game is fast paced, yet every choice makes or breaks your game. For instance, the game starts by each person having a settler and some soldier unit. You then use your settler to find a place and set up your capital city. 
This mechanic seems easy enough, except even moving a single hexagon over can completely change your game – if you move closer to a ocean, you can build aquatic troops, if you move closer to a mountain, you get religion buffs, if you settle closer to a desert or tundra, you may not be able to build anything there at all. Its such a simple mechanic, yet deviating from a desired path by a single hexagon typically determines if you will win or fail – very similar to how important a Catan first placement is. It’s this life or death dynamic created by the mechanics of the game that make it so hard to stop playing.
