Im a solo Indie dev and i have pretty much potential on creating games but i have a few problems:
Fear of burnout: I NEVER finished a single game in all 3 years. I always wanted to finish a game but it always ending with burnout.
“Lack of” ideas: for like 3-5 months i cant even start making game because i dont like all of my ideas. (i think its a perfectionism or smt like that)
anxiety during the process: recently i was having very heavy anxiety when i was trying to make a game for half of the year. Only like a week ago it stopped. (But its still a problem tho)
I have enough skills to make atleast a small Psycological horror game(I have a desire to create something i will finish). Im just tired of demo cycle and want to finally create a REAL game.
Some tips and info i know:
1.Perfection is a problem and i know it very well.
2.I know that most of succeful creators had some unfinished demos and problems.
3.And i know that i shouldnt start creating big games now. I just cant even finish a 10-min game.
I relate to this soooo much, the burnout and especially perfectionism, so ill speak from personal experiences. (ive only published one game and that was 6 years ago…)
Fear of burnout - this is the reason i quit a lot of my games before finishing, i get bored, get a new idea and move on, (although maybe thats just ADHD and hyperfixations) some things i started doing to help this was to just tell myself that no one is waiting on my game to release, understanding its my project and i can complete it whenever i want, work on it when i want. If u experience burnout, ive learnt to not push myself to make something because anything ill make will be rushed and unpolished. Just take breaks if you start to feel burnt out. I usually burn out from games because i have a simple idea, then i get big ambitious ideas for the game, and i end up just making so many new ideas that it pressures me and i end up just creating wayy too much work for myself.
lack of ideas - developers usually critique their work or ideas harshly, (perfectionism does not help with this either…) maybe ask some friends or make a dev forum post asking people if your game idea interests them, and if so, then you can develop that. A lot of my game ideas just pop into my head at random times, so unfortunately idk how to give tips on how to get more game ideas.
anxiety during the process - I personally haven’t experienced this. But it sounds like anxiety from perfectionism and maybe you pressure yourself to produce something good (since you mentioned perfectionism is a problem). I am a perfectionist, but like i said before, you have to remember that developers critique their work HEAVILY and will spot anything that seems remotely off or wrong, but your average player just will not care about that. Something i do, is ask friends for feedback, and if they think it looks good. Because fresh eyes will give feedback on your work better then you will.
You said that you shouldn’t start creating big games now because you can’t even finish small games. This is something very common, i do this as well. I get a very ambitious idea and then its too much to carry and i end up burning out. At the same time however, big ambitious ideas have made me learn a lot about developing. I wouldn’t say to not create big ambitious projects, since you can learn lots from it, but perhaps start with smaller ideas, like a simple small game system then build off that. (eg. maybe building a simple button that gives you some coins, then slowly building it into a big clicker simulator with pets or upgrades, idk)
Overall, i would say, don’t force yourself to work on something if you are burnt out, it will just make you produce lower quality rushed work (which will trigger your perfectionism) and cause even more burnout. I think you should maybe try working on a small psychological horror game, but start from small steps. Don’t pressure yourself with all these giant ambitious ideas for it, maybe write down ideas you get for later on in development. Hopefully this helped a little bit, and was actually understandable . U got this.
. U got this.