How not to lose sight of your project's status?

Was not tested on gamedev-rats, so far.

Coming to a project can be troublesome.

What was I supposed to do next? (image by Bing AI)

I noticed that if I don't touch a certain project for a while, the best thing I can do is to run it and play around with it. There's a big chance I'll remember a lot about your project! Not to mention, when I run it, I'll see many things missing.

Sounds obvious, doesn't it?

I read this once in a Cory Doctorow interview. He works for a specific time, then stops, even if he has the energy/motivation/ideas to do more. It stuck in my memory, although at first, I did not understand it.

Well, Hemingway said it better, which is what I learned recently:

I guess it's easier to write a book if you know what's next.

But how to apply this when you make games or software?

Here's my idea!

Leave work with glaring unfinished tasks, so you won't have a problem catching up later.

Process:

1) Run the game in the current state. Would you publish the game like that?

• if YES, what's stopping you?

• if NO, what is your game missing?

2) Implement the missing feature.

3) Make sure you leave something missing.

4) Finish your work for today.

Repeat the process tomorrow (or whenever you'll continue).