Having done complex engine management in one of the most complex ones to manage without a flight engineer I can chime in a definite 'no'.
There isnt anything fun about.
Its remarkably similar to getting the temperature right in the bathtub faucet, only the faucet has 12 knobs.
I'm not really sure why people believe they would enjoy this other than some sort of ego thing.
They must believe they would be so much better at it it would give them an advantage.
Here is a real life story about that.........
A friend of mine flew for a company that believed they could tweak some more efficiency from their Pratt and Whitney Wasp Jr. engines. So instead of following the established guidelines they routinely flew extra lean. They convinced their pilots that this was a good operating practice.
My friend bought into this and used to preach to me about it.
About 2 am on a morning nearly 20 years ago, my friend learned the fallacy of this thinking.
He was hauling a load of hybrid chicks (of the chicken variety) from upstate New York down to Mexico. In Northern Louisiana the number one motor started losing power and quit. The number 2 engine would not develop enough power to maintain altitude.
My friend headed for the nearest airport but the plane was heavy and the number 2 motor was too damaged to develop full power.
An engine teardown of both engines later revealed extensive valve damage resulting from the loss of cooling from the fuel (excess fuel cools a reciprocating gasoline engine). This damage likely resulted in the failure of number one and likely contributed to the unavailable power to maintain altitude in number two.
At least the NTSB thought so.
My friend tried to land on a small road in the dark. He managed to to do so but the left wing struck a telephone pole.
My friend died in the resulting post crash fire.
All because he believed he could manage an engine better than anyone else.
Engine management isnt about the here and now. Its almost impossible to so badly mismanage the motor that it would fail on THAT flight. Managing a motor is about saving it for the next guy so it won't quit on him but you still get the mission done.
There are a few management tasks that if neglected could kill you like fuel tank selection or manifold heat but it isn't a big deal.
Certainly not 'fun'.
Not without lots of surrounding external factors.
If you wanna simulate some real flying in Aces High get rid of the autopilots and make the weather below 6000 feet lousy. Get rid of maps and make folks navigate (not that I'm advocating this stuff). The real fun in flying is flying the plane and navigating...not knob twiddling.
The real fun in AH is blowing things up while drinking with your virtual buddies.
