True, there are mitigating factors. I just got annoyed when Tiny Wings was used as an example of a great game, particularly when the explanation of its success

True, there are mitigating factors. I just got annoyed when Tiny Wings was used as an example of a great game, particularly when the explanation of its success started off by citing its mechanics, and even more particularly when McCoy's focus on games is entirely about mechanics. Tiny Wings may not have copied much, but they copied everything that there was to copy. Tiny Wings is a better game than Wave Spark, but people keep citing it as an example of a well-developed game without realizing that Illiger didn't need to do any playtesting, didn't need to do any focus groups, and didn't need to actually have the big idea. I'm sorry if that came off more aggressive than I intended. I don't like writing long posts. I think that my perception of the situation might also be skewed by my preference for gameplay over art; I play Dwarf Fortress and Aurora, for pete's sake. I was also following the game-a-week project while it was in the process, so there's that.