The importance of discipline and setting priorities when designing games

@HerrohGrant (Grant Rodiek):

“One of the most powerful and often mis-used (or neglected) abilities in game development is setting priority.

"Early and often one should examine the priorities of all the features of a project. You should know what is most (or least) important to properly focus creative and development effort. 

"At the beginning of every design I establish my priorities: Key Mechanic, Key Theme, Key Play Time, Key Player Numbers.

"I may have a feature creep up that violates or conflicts with a priority. I try to remain focused and steer development such that I make everything serve my priorities. I can also re-prioritize things.

"For example, if I want a game with a great dice mechanic, before I solve any other problem, I am going to design a great dice mechanic. I’m not going to design the board or figure out player turns until the dice work.

”[That takes d]iscipline. Really, design is an exercise in discipline.“