I have Googled and read up before asking this question, but Google does not have everything, so...

I'm 41, but have been interested in game design all my life (I wrote gamebooks when I was 8) I wanted to get into game design when I was younger but complex life experiences intervened (mental illnesses, abuse, trauma etc)

Now I'm still interested in game design, though I have other careers. I'm wondering if it can be done as a sideline or as something related to what I already do?

I have a diverse skillset (business, singing, psychology, translation) some of which may relate to game design (I have a working knowledge of Unity/gamedev) I write books. I have some money TCG finishes.

In terms of actual design, I have at least a hundred of prototypes of various kinds of card/board games. I wrote a TRPG once in my teens, unpublished. People have suggested the Kickstarter route for both, but I'm not certain it's the right path.

After some soul-searching, I realize what I truly enjoy is the creation of mechanics - how the game is presented to an audience, how they interact with it, the meat and bones. I've dabbled in most aspects of game creation (in gamedev courses) like UI/UX, programming etc, but this and writing the story excite me the most.

I had an intuition today to write this post, and here I am! :)

tldr; later in life, much experience, how to game design

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