Yeah I was going to add marketing too but was beaten to the punch by Arto. Another one is *Experience*. Not the same as skill. Each subsequent release will teach you more about making a great game and marketing it so that hopefully you’ll do better each time. Also with experience comes *Contacts* who can tell you loads of cool shit and help you out.

I’ll also add *Runway*! Without enough money to pay your living expense (this is separate from cost of game assets), you can’t finish the game in time. Really you need enough money for 2-3 games in case the first few fail (hate to say this, but they probably will fail in some way).

Bet I think of some more after posting this comment…

#1 — Recycling assets. You can relatively cheaply reuse assets with small changes (color variation, different scales, etc) if you plan for it. It’s a good way to extend the scope of the game. It will be noticed, though, but not frowned upon that much if the game is good enough.

#2 — Work with students and other people who need experience more than actual money.

#3 – #5 — Use the right tools. I.e. don’t build your own engine (unless you already have one ready or almost ready). With good tools you can get stuff done faster and concentrate on the actual *game*. This means you’ll need less time and concrete progress breeds motivation.

#5 & #6 — Get out there early. Post screens on forums as soon as you can (but not too early, a couple of boxes on a black background don’t tell much). You’ll probably find at least some people interested in your project. Having people actually waiting for your game can greatly boost your motivation and help getting back into the project after a break.

#7 — Don’t fret too much on this, it’ll come either naturally or not at al. In my opinion a contrived twist is worse than no twist at all.

#9 — Get beta testers. Get some on very early. Friends are often good to some point, but in the end you’ll need to have the game tested by strangers. Other game developers can offer you more intricate feedback but you should never rely on them alone. Developers don’t see the game as the public does.

I’d also add some points:

#10 — Pricing. Correct price is very important. Cheaper is not always better, as the price is often viewed as a metric of value. Know your market. $1 games are fine on iPhone (though they rob you of one of the most powerful marketing tools: the sale), but probably viewed as sub par on PC. Consider flexible pricing.

#11 — Availability. Indies have a lot more flexibility here than big publishers. You can offer pre-orders, beta versions, multiple platforms, etc. Try to get the game into as many places as possible.

#12 — Marketing. This is very, very important. It’s more important than most indies seem to realize. A good game no one knows is worth less than a bad game everyone knows. Marketing is hard, especially when you’re working with small budgets. Post about the game to places where people frequent: popular forums, blogs. It’s hard to get noticed if you don’t have any reputation yet, but if you’re active enough, you’ll slowly get some. If you’re not interested in marketing, try to find someone who is.

That helps for polish as players are much better than you are telling you what you are doing wrong. It helps for motivation as you already have people expecting something from you. It can help for money if they believe enough in you to support you.

Of course it means you need to already have done something before but hey… Can’t always get it “right” the first time. Put Minecraft in the hands of a total stranger and no I don’t think you get the same result. Not to remove anything from Minecraft at all. But if you already have some fan base it means you probably have a lot of points from your list. But sometimes “doing it right” just isn’t enough. Even Notch mentioned luck about the success of Minecraft.

Of course there is the possibility of a “first shot hit” or “can’t learn anything from previous experience” case but those are probably exceptions.