Hm , please correct me if I am wrong. If you are making a game like this for getting to live for a day by day basis... I would really hope you do have an daytime job that covers those bills.. I think game making like this. Esp in the state most games are in (nothing but amateur quality (do not get me wrong , they are still great)). But I think you should reconsider and go back to a normal dayjob.
Games like this should be side projects only , ones that you do in your sparetime only. It should be fun and getting a small pocket change as result is the goal I would go for.
But then again. I never worked on a game project. I still think if you get 300-500 dollar a month.. it is more then enough to pay for the game assets and the time you put it in.
Let me give you a bit of a different perspective. Making games like this is not much different than creating content for Youtube, (still "amature" as you put it, compared to TV level production), But still something many people do for extra income & some for a full time career. Patreon's role is similar there especially with how meager Youtube's monetization, (or demonetization I should say), is these days. Personally I wouldn't rely on making these kinds of games for full time sustainable income either, just as I wouldn't rely on youtube ad revenue. That isn't the point though. The point is they, as the content creators, are the ones whom decide what their monetary goals are. If they produce consistent content & that is of high enough quality to please their patrons, then the money they earn is rightfully earned & deserved regardless of whether it's $2 a month or $20,000 a month. They should only be called into question if they take funds from their Patrons but fail to produce content or communicate with their paying base. & even then, there is a lot to consider on the back end. I saw some idiot post a video recently ranting about how Phillip DeFranco is a millionaire & is suckering his viewers to pay him even more by setting up a Patreon. What the idiot failed to account for was the fact that DeFranco has an office lease to pay for, a staff of about 16 people with all employer related expenses, cost of equipment & supplies to produce his content, (you ever look at how much a tricaster costs?), & numerous other expenses, oh by the way did I mention Youtube adsense has all but dried up?
My point is, when I see people complaining that ANY content creator is being paid too much, it strikes me the same as that idiot ranting about DeFranco. We, as laypeople consumers, do not know the backend cost in time & actual funds to create their work, we don't have any moral authority to dictate to them what their monetary goals should be just like anyone else & if they would like to make a little income from the time & effort that they put into creating content for us to consume & enjoy, that is perfectly reasonable. So I personally think it's a bit shortsighted & callous to criticise them for making what you might feel is more than enough to simply create the game.
