It is simply a technique for retaining God in the picture, but relegating Him to some point in the history of the world where He cannot interfere with the processes under investigation. For some physicists, His participation is now in the picoseconds. When I finally recognized the importance of mechanism in the mind of scientists, I finally understood most of their complaints about creationists. The mistake we made was in thinking science is about truth. To call it a game is somewhat perjorative.
Science is a method for investigating the mechanisms of the universe.
Investigations into the non-mechanistic aspects of the universe are philosophy and theology. I believe the truth about the world is that it is non-mechanistic. Most believers in God must believe the universe is non-mechanistic, at least in part. If we are right, then Science will never arrive at the truths that are essential to me until it falsifies itself.