Questions to answer and heuristics to use when selecting a new project?

Question

Say I have a list of (in my case, indie) game ideas, from which I need to select a new project to work on.

What are the questions/heuristics that you would use - and ideally have already used successfully in the past - to narrow down such a list to a single idea to work on?

Answer 1

If I had to come up with a system, it would be similar to this:

• Ask "Would working on the idea break any legal agreements/contracts I signed?"
  • Cross out all the projects that you answer "yes" to. Highlight any "maybe" or "idk" projects
• For each of the projects that are not crossed out, assign an estimated "time to complete" value
• Ask "How much time do I foresee myself having to work on any project?"
  • Cross out all the projects with estimates over your answer
• For each of the projects that are not crossed out, assign a value between 1 and 4 (inclusive) that indicates how fun/exciting the idea is to you
• Select the idea that has the highest fun/excitement value, and the lowest "time to complete" value

In reality though, I tend to prototype the ideas that I'm most excited about, and more often then not, the idea I end up choosing is the prototype I'm working on when I look up at my clock and realize it's 4am...on a work day.