Before Starting – Why do I want to make a game?

This is the first and most important question you have to answer for yourself. I’m not going to preach what makes a good answer and what makes a bad answer – what motivates you probably isn’t the same as what motivates me. Just make sure you understand your own motivations clearly and have realistic expectations. For example, here’s the answer for myself:

“I want to make a game because I want to share something cool with people I care about. I want to leave a legacy that’s more than just ‘he sat on a couch and played a lot of games’. I have a NEED to create, and this is the outlet I most want to express that through. I also want to make a game because I love the mental challenge and problem solving that comes with coding and designing a game. I’ve learned over the years that I simply can’t stay away from interesting programming challenges for long.”

As you can see, my motivation is complex. I also didn’t mention anything about getting rich from publishing a game on Steam or whatnot. While that certainly would be nice, I don’t want to set up for myself expectations that in all honesty are probably not going to happen.

Examine your own motivations and keep them at the forefront of your mind.