Hello! It has always made me wonder why so many people recommend making small games.

I'm a web programmer and one of the things we always keep in mind when I've worked with teams is that "the initial product is going to suck" so we improve it over time in constant iteration. Wouldn't the same apply to video games?

During these last few months I have been learning Blender to make my game assets and some music/sfx with LMMS, and my goal is to be able to make an open world game inspired by The Elder Scrolls (not with the same complexity, but following the same vision).

I've seen a lot of convoluted plans from people who say "But bro, create 3 small games in 3 years and then merge the mechanics of those games into one" wouldn't it be the same to make a big game and focus on each mechanic that you create over time? The only difference is that you may earn money faster by doing small games.

And Ok, there is nothing wrong with either vision, but between "Make a lot of small games" vs "Take 7 years making a big game" I honestly prefer the second, if I want money I simply give my CV to the McDonald's on the corner of my street, while I make my game in my free time.

The only thing I'm looking to understand is, what challenges should I expect when making a big game? And I wouldn't mind taking 10 years, the optimization is clear to me, the game will be created with low-poly assets so as not to have to fight against the meshes and also distribute the rendering of the world by sections and a lot of other techniques, but seriously, is there anything that can beat the iteration? To constant improvement? Stardew Valley at first seemed like a Game Jam game, and thanks to constant improvement it can shine as it is today.

About creating small games