Even before I got into the industry I was making video games on the side. The only time I wasn't making games on the side was when I was in the industry itself, as it seemed like a conflict of interest (and the contracts I signed reinforced that).

1. Full autonomy and creative freedom (ie my own thing whith no stakeholders to convince, no egghead managers to leak asses, no humiliating performance reviews etc)

2. Highly technically challenging product in a relatively small team (think building postges db vs cobbling up apis and plow through layers of legacy shit to serve another marketing agency nobody will remember in 10 years).

The 2nd is a weaker answer (doesn’t last long either, because companies like cars tend to degrade over time).

The main theme for me is having a deep connection to meaning. Having this magic “why” answered with both my mind and my soul.

Like approximately everyone else, you have to have a day job.

The nature of day jobs is that even when your day job is doing something you love, you still resent it to some degree because it is a day job...the touring musician still has to ride in rented vans and stay in cheap hotels.

Which is to say that all a day job needs to do is pay for rent and ramen and a good day job allows you to do the things that feed your soul in your time away from it. That's it. Good luck.

The game industry is the most grueling industry to work for. I have a “passion” for a lot of things. I go to work because I don’t like starving - not because I love it.

When I think back times where I was most satisfied with life, is when I was working hard on the side on creative stuff - games.

Also tell your employer if you can go 60% or 80%, and if he refuses start looking for roles that will allow that (hard)