An excellent philosophical question, that we all ask ourselves at some point - why do we play?

I’ll answer your question with one of my own: what is productive labour for after all? To allow for more productive labour?

I could cite some evolutionary hypotheses about how we came to enjoy play and beauty for their own sake, but that doesn’t tell you what we ought to value.

For my own part I think thoughtfully maximising life’s pleasures is a good goal (though I would rank diminishing pain as higher priority).