Hi Finn! 
I've spent a bit of time on Life and Lemon and Bury me with the rain :) 

I loved the mood and the cozyness, it was really inspiring. 

As an independent artist and recently game developer of my first indie game, I would advice you to do what makes you happy! 

If you have enough savings to stay one year or two, rent free with little expenses and with such a prototype already then go for it!

Don't give away your precious time to something that doesn't worth it :)

Living myself at my parents house with very few savings left, I'm working hard to do everything I can to not work for someone else anymore haha

In my opinion Life and Lemon is pretty good. It can be a bit repetitive, and when you start having a lot of cards it can be a bit of a pain to handle and to navigate between them but you have plenty room for improvement and the concept is really cool.

And it's also very satisfying to watch! I personally love the UI and the artstyle.  

Don't hesitate to reach out if you want feedbacks on the game or just want to chat with fellow dev in the same boat :)

Take care!

Hi Finn. I came across this post and your games recently. Life & Lemon has potential. The other games also feel emotional and nostalgic. They showed me a ray of hope that you will definitely make a nice game. However, since your question is about quitting your job and aim for a commercial release, lemme throw in my two cents.

One of the way you can consider is, not quitting your job right away but go interview somewhere, probably some remote company. Once you get the offer letter, if i remember correctly, you have 45 days of notice period in which the work should be lighter than usual. I think you may use this period to work on your game. If you're lucky, you can ask for a couple of weeks later in your start date for more time.

This suggestion arises from a possible concern that the burnout after quitting a bad job is no joke. The exhaustion (and possibly depression) could be so intense that one could do nothing other than sleeping. Touching the keyboard could trigger trauma and mental numbness, let alone programming. The long-term natural cure is, of course, to take a long time to recover. However this may lure one into a tricky psychological trap to procrastinate on job-hunting, raising barrier to the next job.

Another possible concern is that making a game without financial backing could be tough. Thankfully you don't have to worry about living expenses in a couple of years. However firstly, the expense for idea and inspiration may be limited, e.g. to go on a vacation for idea, or to buy an art-book for reference, having to check the account balance every time is uninspiring. Secondly, the self-impression that *you are enduring* is there. Having a productive day may ends up in no reward, having a bad day may ends up in rumination, it's a losing game without an end if this psychology is not kept in check. You fared well enough on your job Finn, this labor of love is supposed to be a reward for that long-time enduring. Setting a "new-job" line (don't read: living-line) could be a trick to make yourself focus on the game. Without "other" things. Well, except for some cups of lemonade.

Hope you the best enjoyment on your labor of love and a better working environment on your next job. Life is mysterious, corporate greed is not, this makes life is a fascinating place to explore and experience. Mysterious Voyage, Be of Good Cheer! (lol)

Hi Finn! I've been following your work for a while now and every one of your games has been inspiring to say the least. Your vision in art and narrative stands out among so many other creators.

As someone who also hope to one day subsist on indie game dev, a constant source of fear is not knowing exactly how much money a certain game, taking certain amount of effort, would be worth.

A part of me want to say that the two years of savings you have is enough to make a game, ship it, and find another job even if it doesn't work out. However, that is not quite ideal.

Would you consider some funding methods like kickstarter or gofundme? This way you can test the market demand for the game, as well as "pre-earn" the dev cost for the game without eating into your savings if you reach your funding goal. Since I, who lives under a rock, saw your blog, I'd say you have enough media reach to consider this?

Thanks for your beautifully poetic games, and looking forward to Life & Lemon!

To be honest your game is good if it's good enough to make you enough money for living, i don't know. In my opinion you should first really think about quitting your job. I'm not saying you don't have a right to feel miserable there. So maybe just think about if it's always been that way and if there isa possibility to go back. otherwise maybe look for other job opportunities that could interest you more. If you really want to become an indie game dev that's for you to decide.

Thanks for sharing your state of life and mind! If you're in the position to (the savings to cover a few years, I would recommend strictly budgeting it and verifying you certainly have at least a year plus in the bank) and have confidence that you have a fall back (for example you are confident that you can find a comparable or better job if something goes awry), then absolutely yes. Chase the dream. Having AI become so pervasive and insinuate itself even into things that are artistically/creatively derived is a nightmare all it's own. I hope however you decide, that you do keep working on your own creations and will do all i can to support you as a patron!

Been a big fan of your work for a while. Genuinely have to say there is a lot of heart and soul in the work you do. Makes me actually a little sad to hear that AI is being shoved in the way of your passionate output. Out of the many creators I follow on here, your calming atmospheres and designs stand out. 

While I would love to say hands down that this game alone could easily keep you afloat as a solo dev, I feel I would be lying to you saying it is an easy path forward. I do think with enough time you could do it. I think if possible, it might be worth considering trying to push this project over the finish line while you have the job security. It would likely increase the overall dev time but again it may be safer in the long run. 

Also for any word of advice on the project, I highly recommend seeing if a project like this could be released not only on PC (maybe on like Steam too if possible) and Android but iOS and I would say even Switch. Cozy games like this do great on those platforms and if you want a bigger audience for going solo dev, targeting those would go a long way toward that.

In any case, best of luck. Your work is stellar and I think you can go quite far if you stuck with the great projects you put out here. Can't wait to see what you have in store soon.