This is a prickly question. Optional things are optional, and players can choose the buttons they press. However, we developers have a responsibility to design a game that is engaging and fun for the player. Part of that responsibility is providing a difficulty curve that allows our players to stay within flow band and not get pushed into anxiety or boredom. Managing player power and available options is part of this - too many options can feel overwhelming, too much power can get boring, and too few of either can be frustrating.

The extreme example of this would be implementing a literal "I win" button into the game. Players could choose whether or not to push the button to win whenever they wanted. Those who do would likely not have much fun playing the game. Can we fault players for "ruining" their own fun with such a feature? The responsibility more likely resides with the developers for implementing it.

I believe that the majority of responsibility for a fun and engaging game belongs to the developers, but it is up to players to find their own fun within the confines provided by the game. It should be easy to have fun with a game and more difficult to find frustration. That's what a good user experience should be. That's our responsibility as devs to build for players. It is the players' responsibility to figure out whether they think they will personally have fun with the game as provided. Not every game is for every player.

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