" I was struck by a study I read once that claimed that kids spend roughly the same amount of time setting up and coming up with the rules for a game as actually playing it."

LOL at this. I remember discovering my son playing AOE II for hours - without ever actually playing the game. He'd create a scenario and have fun destroying it. I don't know if he actually ever played the campaign.

I watched once as he created vast armies and, one by one, just killed each of the heroes. XD

In his defense, he's not some kind of serial killer now =p

Anyway, it is very true that kids are often more intent on creating the rules and scenarios than actually playing a game.