[Question] Games that grow on you

So we have all had it happen. We buy a game because it is cheap/looks good/follows a type of genre we like/is popular and really don't like it at first. Maybe it wasn't what we thought it would be, maybe the gameplay is harder than it ought to be, maybe something else, or maybe a combination of all of the above. However, we still play it...and we notice that we start to like it. Little by little, hour by hour, we play it mroe and more such that while the game will never become your favorite game, it's one you look back and say "That was pretty darn good game".

What games has this happen to you before? I'll start off with one of my own.

Name: Puzzle Quest
Description: More or less a medieval puzzle game. The basic premise is you try to match at least three items (same colored mana, skulls, etc) in a row. You can even do four or even five of a kind if you are really good. There are four types of mana that allow you to cast spells, purple stars that give you experience (beyond that you get from winning a battle), skulls that take off the toher guy's hit points, gold that lets you buy stuff, and X2, X4, and X6 blocks that when lined up right, gives you the amount of mana you normally would get for a three/four-in-a-row multiplied by the number. Gold can be used to guy various items, most of it that gives you items that give you starting mana, gives you mana for matching a certain type of item, take off some of the damage, and so forth. experience allows you to become higher proficient in various attributes that help you from raising a percentage to get anextra turns if you match a certain item, to increasing the damage you deal out, to increasing the gold/experience you get from battle, and more. There is a main storyline which seemingly can ark depending on some of your decisions, but also many, many optional quests to let you get gold/experience.

Why I didn't like it at first: I was thinking there'd be a better assortment of puzzles. It's the same puzzle gamet he entire tme and in fact if you turn of your NDS and turn it back on, it seems to go in the same "order". Furthermroe, when first starting out, you find the computer is able to "predict" the future and knows just when it is going to get xyz mana or even though the next level of mana can't be seen yet, it knows which blocks to match to get things just right. In other words, it gets "lucky" way too often.

Why I started to like it: After getting through the fact that it's virtually the same throughout, and after getting use to the computer's tricks, it did become a fun and the strategy became enjoyable too. I think the level system sucks (you get four points per level but many of the upgrades require 2 or 3 points and most of the decent armor requires some insane level like level 24 to equip) but I get by just by pounding my opponent with combinations of three and four-in-a-rows. Oh, and the best is the start of each game being able to match three golds, which sets of a series of three and four-in-a-rows that culminate in a "Heroic bonus" that also gives me an extra 100 XP.

Jam it back in, in the dark.