These ideas are really resonant with me since I’ve been putting more time into game design. Something that occurred to me recently that’s been a salve is that if I make something and the only people who ever see it are the handful of friends I play it with, then like… that’s pretty good still? After all, people put hours into high-effort prep all the time, for audiences no bigger than 4 or 5 other folks.

There’s a tendency to only “count” strangers acknowledging your stuff as meaningful, even though there’s often someone we know who deserves our gratitude. Anyway, good stuff!