What are some fun games to play via email?

What are some fun games with multiple layers of play?

• "Puzzle Pirates" is a good example of a game that has both fun minigames, and a higher-level game (shopkeeping or flotilla battles or just sailing around) that those minigames feed into.  Your expertise at the lower-level game helps accomplish goals one layer up. What other games are like this?  Spore lets you play at different layers (from individual creatures to city-states to planets), but spread through time.  Many online games have PvE challenges that help toward a PvP endgame, but that feels different to me. Deck-construction games where success at playing a deck leads to better cards and more options are another variation of the same idea.  So are building games where you play some game to earn pieces or perks--- but often the higher-level build isn't very interesting. Can you suggest other games that allow you the ability to play both at the low-level (a minigame or individual character) and have those actions percolate up to higher-level games?  For example, where a city-management game leads to better results in an encapsulating Civ-style strategy game?

• Answer:

  I'm not sure this fits your description exactly, but you should try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saints_Row_IV (if you haven't played it yet). There's the main game with story quests and side quests, and then there are all kinds of mini-games that you play inside the main game, either to advance the story or just for fun / cash / achievements / power-ups. Also, some of the side-quests feature parodies of other games and/or other game types; for example, in one mission you suddenly find yourself in a 2D world playing a 2D platformer. And there's even a hidden text adventure!