The secret sauce of a chainring designed for 1x drivetrains is the tooth profiles. As you can probably guess from the name, the tooth profiles alternate between narrow and wide to interact with the differing gaps in your chain, using teeth that alternate from what you’d expect on a standard chainring to squared-off broad profiles. Have a gander at your chain, and you will see that the space between each link also alternates from wide to narrow, and these tooth profiles grip the chain, preventing it from bouncing off without introducing drag.
When you’re riding over rough terrain, your chain will be bouncing to some degree, even with a clutched derailleur. A narrow-wide chainring reduces the amount your chain can swing side to side as it comes onto the chainring preventing it from jumping ship.