If i don't play with my cat for at least two days he figures out ways to turn into a terrorist and turn things into a game. That's when he brings in a mouse at 3 am, or will jump on the table he never jumps on, and throws paws at you instead of listening to get down. Any active attempt to bring life back to normalcy is just participating in the game and the cat will out smart you. They remember the things that you don't like that you didn't even pick up on.

Its just much easier if you just set aside a half hour every day to play. Ours plays twice a day for about fifteen minutes each and he's just chill after that. One day with no play he's very forgiving and it doesn't bother him, but on the second day he looks at me in the eyes more, and will randomly sprint away trying to get me to play chase. If that doesn't work thats when he resorts to terrorism.