Some Closing Tips

Read everything that you can get your hands on regarding game design. Regardless of the fact that most of it is written by the big players in the business, the fact of the matter is that the community is mostly made up of small developers like yourself. The data is still relevant and can be bent to suit your needs. I find postmortems are especially informative as they allow you to see where the big developers went wrong, and how your game can avoid a similar fate.

Continue to play games, lots of them, and of every kind. But not only should you play them, you should study them. You must first know your enemy and his tactics before you can ever hope to defeat him. Find out how Quake has trained you to drool at the mere mention of the word "frag." Why does Pokemon melt the brains of small children? What is it that makes the Warcraft series an enduring classic? In other words, ask yourself what game developers are doing to stay on the top of the heap, and soon you'll be up there shoving 'em off.