I think you missed the minus sign there and misread this, I will translate it: "The chance for rare loot to drop should be continuously reduced by 10% for every hour you log inside the game. I.e., you should receive rewards for completing difficult challenges rapidly, that is, skillfully." The implication seems to be that if the challenge is hard and you are not good at it, and are just throwing yourself at a wall repeatedly, or the challenge is non-existent/mindless (chore simulator), if you are repetitively doing either and grinding hours away, they are one and the same, and neither is a meritorious achievement. I think this is an interesting angle, as very few games reward skill expression or eureka moments as a momentous achievement. The vast majority, genre and budget irrespective, rely on the (easier to implement) crutch of locking progression behind pointless tedium, so given enough hours sunk in, everyone can win. It is interesting to think about how, whether, and under what conditions games could reward the above.

What are some good games that opt for a grounded approach? I agree that it is few and far between (whether that is good, bad, or indifferent is a topic for another space). A few that come to mind are Don't Escape: 4 Days to Survive (takes place in a survival situation) and Dreams in the Witch House, which incorporates shop/money mechanics and other survival management elements.

You wanna know which came ISN'T grounded? Nightlong: Union City Conspiracy. If you are in the mood for some hilariously baffling moon logic, outlandish set design and embarrassing period voice acting and CG, with a plot that makes slightly more sense than The Mystery of The Druids, give it a shot. It's basically "we have Blade Runner at home."

Guess how they travel in the cyberpunk future presented in this game: flying cars. But guess how they receive documents when out of the office? Public fax machine booths mounted on walls of train stations. That's right. FAX MACHINES. The future is now.

The game is not bad per se, it will definitely stay in your mind with its utter weirdness. Grimbeard did a detailed video on it if you are curious.

Laika

Similar reaction. Game looks aesthetically pleasing, but it feels very hard to innovate within the matrix of a sidescroller, so unless you are a diehard sidescroller player, might not offer something amazing. The game also crashed a lot for me so I didn't get very far and just gave up on it. There wasn't a big hook here that would have made me want to persist through crashes.

Jusant

Haven't played this one, but take a look at Peaks of Yore. Make sure to turn off all of the postprocessing so you get simple polygons.

En Garde

Had CTDs with this one, too. Looks like I didn't miss much, but the core concept seems entertaining if they flesh it out.

Lies of P

I need to get around to trying this one. I have this habit of putting off bigger demos till the end.

I went on to play all seven (well, technically 6: see here) and the two reboots by a German studio that came out a year or two ago. Al Lowe's is a master of the lampoon style of humor