I have recently been through the process of burnout, or development fatigue. I thought it might be helpful (or instructive) to share my own experiences with this, so that you can avoid the pitfalls I’ve clumsily stepped into myself.

This is something of a well-trodden topic when it comes to Games Development, and I think the process of building something as enormous as a game lends itself to these problems.

Why does it happen?

It happens with surprising ease. In my case, I had a very distinct milestone; Steam Greenlight was announced to be closing, and I had long ago planned to get my game through it. For all of Greenlight’s flaws, I was keen to prove (really just to myself) that the game was interesting enough that people would vote it through.

It was now a race against time to make the game presentable, and hopefully get some people interested.

I began to work at a feverish pace, spending every waking moment that I could doing art and code, building UI’s, and adding effects. I smashed my way through task after task, and the game was completely transformed in a matter of days and weeks. It was amazing to look at all the changes, and I was loving the work – it was all consuming.

I don’t think I spent any time with my wife for at least a month, in spite of working entirely from home. In hindsight, it was pretty horrific. As a solo developer, isolation is a common issue and it’s an easy trap to fall into.

At the time, I felt unbreakable. But I am certainly not.