My approach to game dev was to look at games I loved growing up, and think "Well, if I only had 10 minutes to play this, what would my favourite bits of the game be?" - and to try and fill my games with only those things. If there's a particular genre you're really passionate about, try to replicate your favourite bits from it in a small package, gain confidence from that and then expand your game and iterate on it. Maybe your first game is just a super simple 1 vs 1 turn based battle game, and the next game you add in special skills and weapons, then you make it 2 vs 2 and so on. Iteration is the key!
And also, make sure to try and ship your games - it can be really seductive to just jump from project to project but you learn a lot from completing projects, even if they are not commercially successful.
Game dev has never been more accessible, but also never more competitive. Sometimes that can feel super discouraging and you can feel a real sense of imposter syndrome - I certainly do, I look at all these super talented kids coming through the ranks and think "How can I compete with that!" but the key is to find out what makes your work unique and try to lean into that.
And sometimes, be sure to just take a break from living and breathing game dev. Read widely, get out and go for a hike and so on. Some of your best ideas will come away from the computer.
Onwards and upwards !
-Oliver
❤️
Gorgon Shield on Steam