We are always talking / writing about indie game market, indie games, etc. but what is it like being and indie?

First of all indie means independent as you know. There are some good sides and bad sides of being an independent game producer.

Let's start with good sides;< p>

* You are free as an indie. You can create a game in any genre, with any theme, within any time. There is no one giving you a deadline. There is no one asking you to add to something or take out something from your game. It is you who is the boss.
* There is no time limit. You get what you work for as soon as you finish working on it. We see unfinished titles in the professional games market because of impatient publishers.
* There are no working hours. You are free to work at night then sleep in the morning as most of the indies do.
* You set the holiday times. You can give yourself a week of break and relax as you wish. Then again, it's you who will get what you work for when you finish it and you finish it whenever you want.
* You don't have to go to a boring office every morning, your office is wherever you feel like office. Be it your home, your own office or even a beach if you can work with a laptop.

And here are the bad sides;

* You don't have financial independency so most of the indies tight on budget. That's one reason why indie studios have a handfull of people.
* There is no one to give you the rules so you are on your own, you depend on your own discipline. So if you lose your coordination your project will be doomed.
* You have to think everything, especially if you are a solo developer, you are the coder, the artist, the musician, the level designer, the producer, the marketing guy, list goes like this.
* Your payment is not guaranteed, you may work so hard for some months and finally your masterpiece will not sell as you expected. What a disappoinment.
* You get your money when your game is finished. There is no one paying you monthly.

Please share if you have more ideas of good sides or bad sides of being an indie. Even if it's bad or good, I'm proud of being an indie. Cheers all the indies!