Being a solo indie dev isn't that fun either. You're looking for an investment of 1-4 years, without pay and without a guarantee that you're going to get it shipped and that it's going to pay you back.
Game development can be risky, especially if you've got bigger ambitions for your game. It all sounds great in your head, but progress is much slower. I spent 8 months on Unreal Engine, 8 months that I'm never going to get back, and I was never able to ship anything. Game development takes time and if you're someone who doesn't already have an expertise in asset creation, it's going to be even harder.
Speaking from a 3D game developer perspective, It also requires investment, not just hundreds of dollars but sometimes thousands because you can't do everything on your own. It's more than just 3d models, it involves animations, sound design, texture work, putting it all together and presentation and story and voice acting. So much stuff for a single person to handle.
It's great when you do not mind failure and putting 2–3 years into void, terrible when you expect something better than mediocrity.
Regular software development (web apps and apps) imho is much more rewarding. It takes less time to build an MVP, you can do it almost everything for $0 these days.
It's only risky if you feel a need to ship and profit from it. If you treat the game development process as an artistic endeavor, you can enjoy the time you are spending on it. Like an amateur painter creating a piece, just for something to put up in your own mantle, only for their friends and family to see. If you feel that you have to ship and monetize, then the process loses its magic.
This approach also requires that you work a day job, unfortunately.
I think I'd be fine with smaller games that I could make for kids in my family but that also requires some time investment. We're looking for 30-60 hours of work, even if it's a simple game.
I wish game development was as easy as web development.
Game development can be risky, especially if you've got bigger ambitions for your game. It all sounds great in your head, but progress is much slower. I spent 8 months on Unreal Engine, 8 months that I'm never going to get back, and I was never able to ship anything. Game development takes time and if you're someone who doesn't already have an expertise in asset creation, it's going to be even harder.
Speaking from a 3D game developer perspective, It also requires investment, not just hundreds of dollars but sometimes thousands because you can't do everything on your own. It's more than just 3d models, it involves animations, sound design, texture work, putting it all together and presentation and story and voice acting. So much stuff for a single person to handle.
It's great when you do not mind failure and putting 2–3 years into void, terrible when you expect something better than mediocrity.
Regular software development (web apps and apps) imho is much more rewarding. It takes less time to build an MVP, you can do it almost everything for $0 these days.