Finishing what you started.
WHY IT MATTERS
Most unfinished games were abandoned, not defeated technically.
WHAT CAUSES ABANDONMENT
The middle, where novelty has gone and the end is distant Scope that keeps growing Working without feedback Comparison with finished work by larger teams
WHAT HELPS
Milestones small enough to reach Something playable at all times Showing progress to others regularly Recording what was done each week
WHY RECORDING HELPS
Progress is invisible day to day and obvious over months.
WHAT TO AVOID
Working only on the interesting parts Restarting to do it properly Comparing your middle to someone else's release
WHAT RESTARTING USUALLY MEANS
Avoiding the unglamorous remaining work.
WHAT TO DO WHEN STUCK
Work on something else within the project Reduce scope explicitly Ship a smaller version
WHAT TO PROTECT
A sustainable pace.
WHY
Exhaustion ends more projects than difficulty.
WHAT TO ACCEPT
That the final portion is not enjoyable, and doing it anyway is the skill.
