While I'm sure there's some truth to that, a lot of the "mundane chore" games are fun because they remove the un-fun parts, like having a boss, being required to do things on a schedule, and not being allow to screw things up.
Even just having the threat of being fired over your head is enough to make those chores not be fun, even without all the other stresses.
My wife and I have been playing co-op Stardew Valley lately, and while it's a "farming sim", most of the ugly parts of farming are conveniently left out:
* cleaning up animal poop
* spreading animal poop on fields
* slaughtering animals / pest control
* working with deadly tools like power take-offs
* competing with giant factory farms [though we just finished the first in-game year, so maybe Joja Corp will start having that effect in future years]
Almost the essence of game design is "oversimplifying life in a way that makes it fun while leaving the player with meaningful connections to their reality".
I can tell you from the farm my wife and I operate (currently in our 7th in game year), you will eventually become the giant factory farm to get to the end game.
But that’s why I love Stardew Valley in a different way than my wife. It hits the comfy aspect for her, a light dating sim, plus the combat is light enough that she’s gotten good at it there than she does in other games. For me, I get to optimize farm layout and selling strategies (like me realizing after all this time in-game that Slime Eggs are a high dollar item and totally should have gotten a slime hutch much sooner)
Even just having the threat of being fired over your head is enough to make those chores not be fun, even without all the other stresses.