Agreed! Playing [the wrong kind of] games to get back on the road is a slippery slope.
The best kind of games make you more productive, which impacts the numbers, rather than affecting the numbers in isolation of the productivity.
s/productive/progresses the goal-of-interest/;
Not weight related, but Pomodoro Poker is such a game. Danny’s game of go-for-a-run-if-I’m-over-a-threshold is beneficial even if it doesn’t get him back on the road today.
Update: In the past I’ve used the moving average line as the threshold for weight-influencing games. If today’s value is above the moving average, eat better and exercise more, strictly, today.