Games, certainly. I would not use MATLAB for any intense games, but it is very capable for writing boardgames, text adventures (Zork, if you remember that gem), and other games with low graphics requirements. That beig said, people have made racing games in MATLAB - but only to prove a point, not because it was the best choice of software.

From being an absolute beginner, you could learn to program chess in MATLAB or Python comfortably within a week.

MATLAB is really good for doing cool stuff like neural network learning. This is where an AI essentially educates itself by trail and error. Here is an AI learning to walk:

None of these creatures were taught how to walk. They were essentially given muscles, and developed their gaits on their own. Some actually discovered - entirely autonomously - that hopping is more efficient than walking!