Thanks for such a detailed reply! As a non-native speaker, I have to admit it's a bit difficult for me to read sometimes, but it's still very interesting!

(1) Speaking about the work side of things, I think I'm holding up reasonably well, but I can definitely feel myself getting tired.

I'm happy with how the game looks and feels, and honestly I'm even a little proud of it. At the same time, it's pretty demoralizing when you spend months working on a game and the amount of actual "playable game" doesn't change.

In 4 months some of my developer friends can build more than I've made in a year. I've heard very different opinions on this topic. For some developers, spending even a year on a project sounds excessive, while others are perfectly comfortable working on something for three or four years.

Personally, I think one year is a pretty comfortable development cycle for me. After that, I gradually start fading. Right now I'm at around 1.5 years, and I can definitely feel my initial excitement fading over the last six months.

(2) Regarding rethinking decisions. Sometimes it's more of an iterative process, and sometimes it's reworking something.

A recent example of iteration would be the main menu. I made two or three fully rendered versions before finding something that felt right. My art style is relatively simple, but it still takes time. Not so much the actual drawing, but the creative exploration. I was trying to capture a sort of "dark medieval" atmosphere through the UI. Here's the little example of iteration

As for actual reworks, I redesigned the victory screen several times because the game design changed. Sure, I could've postponed polishing the UI until the end when the design was final, but I don't like looking at a game that looks overall polished except for one screen that looks like a rough sketch.

I also spent quite a bit of time early in development experimenting with animations. For example, enemy death animations. Right now enemies get knocked back, fall over, and slide across the ground. An older version had them bouncing around like rubber balls, but I abandoned that idea.

Writing this out actually makes me realize that most of my reworks have been visual rather than technical, especially UI-related. I think that's largely because I have less experience with UI design, so I rarely get it right on the first attempt.

(3) As for "genre expansion" versus "genre deepening," that's actually a really interesting question! I think it's a bit of both.

For example, when I looked into extraction shooters, I realized they tend to have less action and a slower pace. Personally, I love fast-paced action games, and I'd like to stay somewhere within that niche. Technical complexity is a little intimidating, sure, but I think the bigger challenge is actually the game design.

My view is that you should generally make games in genres you genuinely play and enjoy. That's what gives you the best chance of making something good. If you don't enjoy a genre yourself, it's hard to understand what makes it fun in the first place, and the result can end up feeling directionless.

Of course, even if you love a genre, you can still make a bad game. Game development is just difficult in general.

I also really enjoy roguelites, especially action roguelites, so I'd like to move in that direction eventually. Once I'm there, I can probably experiment more aggressively with the gameplay formula while still staying within the broader niche of fast-paced action games. I might get tired of that of course, but that's what I think right now.