Business rules for developing games

The benefits of using the game project triangle
The game project triangle allows that you choose two out of the three goals of 'on budget', 'on time' and 'high-quality/feature rich'. The benefit of recognising this is that you only miss one goal, rather than two or three if you had failed to comply.

Questions
1) What are you trying to accomplish with this game?
Create a game whilst solving problems inherent to a restrictive games engine.
2) When must you complete the game project?
13th March, a week before the deadline.
3) How much money do you have to produce it?
None.
4) Who do you have to get the job done?
Myself.

Achieving an ultra-low-budget game
Bethke recommends two paths to take when seeking to produce an 'ultra-low-budget' game: a small game or a mod. The game should:
a) include a lower number of highly-polished features rather than a higher number of less-polished features
b) be "simple but playable"
c) "require a minimum of engineering to get functional."

Primary, secondary and tertiary features as a method of supporting development
During development it is important to categorise your game's planned features by priority -- primary being the core features. Depending on time available, these features should shift between priorities; for example, if you have more time then a secondary feature may become a primary feature. The rationale behind this is that, firstly, having too many 'must-do items' puts unnecessary pressure on the development team and, secondly, features have an inherent priority anyway, but only through recognising this will you be able to realise which features you really need.