I don’t know what makes a game successful.
To be fair I don’t even know how a half-decent game looks like. HOWEVER I strongly believe that collectively, we have the information! So, maybe, just maybe, if we put our heads together we can come up with a recipe of DO’s and DONT’s for our grand-grand-dev-kids.

There’s a couple of games I made in the past 15 years. They’re all, mostly …what’s the word I’m looking for… kinda shit, overall, from the perspective of a successful, commercial game, but they have good bits in them, fun bits.
And I see a looot of games out there, _{and in here, especially in here but you can’t get triggered cuz the font is hard to read,} with small, fun bits, that overall are kinda shit.

Ok, let’s skip the foreplay and jump directly into what I have so far.
A bulletpoint presentation of what makes a game _{closer to} successful!

• EMPATHY – Take StarCraft for example, it’s easier for people to connect with the terran race as a first game encounter, as compared to zerg, or protos. Hook new players in with Raynor and then ease them into border-line hentai Kerrigan.
• CLEAR MECHANICS – Make people want to play your game in the first 10 seconds of seeing it. Screenshots/ trailer/ first level should give a clear sense of what the core mechanic of your game is. Why? Please gather your things and leave the class.
• DON’T GET CUTE – with it! (see what I did there? I got cute with it.) We all do this, all the time, getting too clever, too innovative with the mechanics.
  Keep it clear, clean and simple!
• PLAYER – What is the player role? Are they an important element in moving the story forward or just completing tasks for you?
• COMMUNICATION – I’m sure you know what’s happening in your own game, but I’m just seeing 25 pop-ups overlapping the half a million menu buttons. Don’t get your player confused. Ease them into the game and communicate goals, UI, whatever.
• APPEAL – Remember your crush in middle school? Your game should be that, but available. Jokes aside, you must find your game appealing before anyone else does, but not because you worked on it, because it’s something that you really want to fuck, play, sorry.
• PROTOTIPES – Don’t skip the prototyping faze!!! And I’m an artist… by trait we skip the prototyping faze! The prototype is the cheapest and fastest way to see if your idea has appeal, clear set of mechanics, overall worth making.
• NO BULLSHIT – Stop lying! Yes, I’m talking to you Sean Murray. Pizza guy came, I had a bit, I lost it…
  If you need to overcompensate for core mechanics with fluff, because they are not fun yet, stop! Get back to the drawing board because that mechanic needs more work.
• EXPECTATION – You are creating it, you need to live up to it. If you give a loaded gun to a player and place him in a closet, make sure to have bullet hole sprites at the ready because your player will shoot everything.
  Think of all scenarios that might appear and don’t break the immersion or underdeliver.
• YOUR GAME SUCKS – With love, most people!
  This goes hand in hand with APPEAL, stop worrying about your fan base, make the game for yourself first, do it with love and passion, and focus on the fun instead of what others might think of it. Most of them will hate it or be indifferent to it. Focus on the 10 people that will play it, they are worth your time.
• STRENGTHS – Play around your strengths. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. If you can only draw buts and butterflies, then don’t make a city builder game. Do something with buts and butterflies.

My brain hurts, so this is enough for now.
Please note I did not take into consideration the marketing visibility aspect, which is AS IMPORTANT as the game itself.
I don’t really have too much knowledge about it to be frank, so I invite you to add whatever piece of information you find relevant to this topic, because you’re doing it for… Christ, idk. Just do it, be a good person!

This topic is open for everyone to add useful tips, observations on how does a SUCCESSFUL GAME look like!
Cheers