Don't misunderstand me - there's nothing wrong with having stats, or about using them to calculate probable outcomes. The real, physical world is governed by mathematical formulas too. It's just that in most applications, the formulas are too complex and contain too many variables to accurately compute outcomes.

If you were a real Medieval commander, thinking about whether your regiment of spearmen could defeat an enemy force, you wouldn't use imaginary "stats" to work it out. You'd use intuitive factors - how well your men are armed, armoured, and trained, and whether or not they are equipped to deal with the enemy force in question.

So basically, yes, there will always be algorithms to compute game outcomes. However, those algorithms are currently very simple abstractions of reality. As games become more advanced and realistic, their complexity will grow to reach a point where it is no longer feasible for players to use them. We'll simply have other ways of playing the game.