Start to finish was about 6 months; actual hours, I would estimate 400-500 hours. I spent a good 2-3 months probably working 30-40 hours a week on it, I took a couple of months off pretty much completely in that time too.

The challenge itself, I thought was a good starting point, it motivated me for the first month. I had a playable game at the end of the first month but it was very amateur and I really wanted it to have that polish of a 'real' game, which I am proud of, I think I managed to achieve quite a high level of quality.

It was mostly an educational thing, I did have some small hopes that I might make some proper money from it but it was never the expectation. I'm glad I did it but I don't think I would do it this year. I'd rather work on something that I don't expect to sell, the dollar signs at the back of my mind did guide my design a bit. I'd prefer to work on something I could be more proud of as a game in itself rather than as a failed product.

As an aside I recently got a really nice review from a customer who wasn't a friend of mine. It seriously made my day and was much nicer than the small amount of money I made.