Totally Controlled Rocket

I've been thinking about single-touch controls and how to make a game with only a single tap. So the player either has a finger on the touchscreen or he doesn't. How can we get deep gameplay from that? One way would be to automate much of the control. Endless runner games do this. Tap means jump and that's all you need to know. This allows for easy-to-learn gameplay that could still be very challenging.

I revisited an old game and instead of controlling the tilt and thrust of the rocket as you climb upwards through a tunnel, you only control the thrust. The rocket is constantly spinning and now you have to rely on your timing and patience and split-second corrections . I think the problem with a game like this is it can be very frustrating to feel like you have less control in a game than you would if you were doing the thing in real life. Like how you might feel when you are first learning how to use chopsticks.