Well I saw this coming, really. I had a lot of fun but I've missed the compo deadline and won't be able to make the jam either since I'm working from home.

On the other hand, I learned a lot and this attempt has rekindled my love of game design and development. I'll definitely be keeping up with it in my spare time!

Quick thoughts:

• Time: Try and manage it well. I'm notoriously bad at it in general, so I should have known better. Allocate some time up front for brainstorming, prototyping, etc., then try and section it up so you've at least got a rough idea when you want to be doing what. Milestones! Remember to take breaks!
• Tools: Learning new tools is always fun, but on reflection I made a mistake by trying to use PICO-8. It's purposely "simple", yes, but I am still unfamiliar with it and only spent a day or two learning it before LD46 kicked off. I don't think I necessarily would have completed anything if I'd used tools I'm already familiar with, but... maybe? It certainly had a negative effect.
• Focus: Another thing I've always been relatively bad at. In this case I decided to switch ideas around 14 hours in (hence the screenshot above) instead of sticking with my initial game plan. I suppose in the right circumstances switching ideas isn't a bad thing, and I saw a few of you doing the same thing, but in reality my initial idea was not more complicated than the one I switched to. I just got bored of working on it and lost focus on what was really important.
• Fluff: Save it until the closing hours. Despite reading this exact tip several times before the compo started, I still didn't take it to heart and wasted time up front by playing with effects and intro / outro screens. Did anyone else watch Yahtzee's 12 games in 12 months series? (Games are here.) He made the point early on that you should work out your core gameplay loop first, and I think he's absolutely right! Under these time constraints you should add the fluff later, if you have the time. (Although I really respect those among you capable of pumping out awesome art straight away!)

I'll definitely be taking part in LD47. Hopefully by then I will have had plenty enough practice and will be able to submit something!

Right, I suppose I better get to work. Good luck to you all!