You paid for years for because YOU convinced YOURSELF you were paying for development when the dude NEVER said that was the case. The game has ALWAYS been completely FREE! Perhaps in the beginning he was using Patreon to supplement his income and allow him to spend more time on the game, but the game WAS STILL FREE! You never paid for the game or it's development, but you convinced yourself you did! Donations, and that's exactly what they are, are not payments for development speed, they are solely people tipping the dude for doing what they find amusing, like a street artist or musician. Patreon just happens to be subscription based, but you can stop any time. You scammed yourself!