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I was just thinking about this, and there is in fact an experience like YAL which I appreciate and enjoy as an adult: The original Shin Megami Tensai series for the PS2. Specifically, Persona I-IV remind me of The Hunger Games series insofar as they offer practice exercises in social interaction that aren't so much moral as they are mandatory for survival.
There tend to be the same kinds of presumptions about gaming as there are about the books many of you like. And like a person reading a YA book might feel in public, I'm a bit sheepish when rocking a PS Vita on the train. People seem quite invested in the costume jewelry of intelligence, and concerned about what a grown man is supposed to be doing. But a book like Ficciones by Borges or Pale Fire by Nabokov is a game as well, and I would argue Persona III involves levels of thought and sophistication which pre-vidgame adults -- no matter how old -- might do well to cultivate. If my mother were still around, I'd love to have bought her a copy. It would have made her feel less alone at times, since the player is always talking to an ally or instructor. She might have left the game feeling as if she'd spent a few hours talking with old friends.
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