Really like the game flow and concept. I only played a few minutes so I'm not sure how these ideas might impact gameplay, but here are a couple ideas:

1) One-off boosters that positively impact health, energy, happiness. Simple could be a "Nirvana Potion" and when you drink (click) it, it takes all stats back to 100%. Let people use real money to buy batches of Nirvana Potions --- $1 - 3 potions, $3 - 10 potions, etc. Show the booster button/icon on the page with the stats so the user is constantly reminded/tempted that they could with a single click get to 100%.

2) For every item that the player is going to buy (i.e. Skills, Tools, etc.), let them watch a video ad to lower the price by 20%. So have a retail price of $100, but show them the discount rate of $80 if they willing to watch an ad before buying.

Good luck!

What's stopping people from charging back? Is there any defense for it?

Well, I think I scambled the use of the words. 

eChecks not clearing is what we're talking about and there's no defense to it. 

"Chargeback" in paypal terms is when the money clears, but later the user makes a claim (and for virutal goods, their only valid claim is card was used without authorization), and this is ~1% that goes through.

There is also a reversal which is when paypal thinks there are funds (usually someone with paypal tied to their bank account but then when paypal tries to pull the money, there is insufficient funds, stc.) and this for us is very, very rare.

I know it's natural to want to protect from those that will steal with knowingly bad eCheck fraud.  But, even if you experience an insanely high 10% chargebacks on the eChecks... that means 90% went through fine.  I would just consider it the cost of doing business and wouldn't want to stop the 90% from experiencing the immediate gratification.

For us, eChecks that didn't clear or had chargeback issues was as high as 5% vs ~1% for non eChecks through paypal.

If your game doesn't have a way for players to sell their purchased game credits to other players or buy memberships for other players, then I would say accept eChecks and also credit them immediately.  When an eCheck bounces, then you ban the account until they make up that payment.  You have very little exposure with this.

If on the other hand you allow players to purchase game credits and then resell them to other players, then I would advise against eChecks completely.

The ideas and thoughts are great no matter what side of the fence you're currently sitting on.  I make my living from browser-based, long-term games where a game lasts from between 3 weeks and 6 months and once players get sucked in and get competitive with the game, they will stay for months or years.  On our side of the fence, our problem is a horrible "start game".  Where casual flash games typically shine is the first 1-15 minutes.  That is exactly where the typical browser-based games loses 90% of new players due to boredom or confusion.  Combining the strengths of both has been done with great success by big budget  and massively multiplayer games (runescape, dofus, darkorbit) but is very rarely done by small independents because it requires so many different specialties which means higher costs and much higher risks of failure.

@smasher ... great couple of posts on your blog.  I'm looking forward to following the progress and cheering you past $20,390!

IF you want to "go commercial", then you should be ready to compromise (at least in the short-term) between what you love and what will generate enough money for you to pay your bills and continue working towards your long-term dream game.

If your goal is to earn a living in the business, then you should STUDY the business.  Take the time to learn which apps make money and where they earn their money.  How much do you need to earn and which avenue has the highest liklihood for you to succeed based on your skills, resources, timeframe, etc.

I hear a lot of developers that would like to earn a living from their hobby.  With that mindset I think you need quite a bit of luck on your side for everything to work out.  If your mindset is how can I make a viable business/living from creating games, then I think your chances of success are much higher. 

It's hard to give a direct answer on the question of "which platform".  Really depends a lot on your skills, financial resources to take a risk, amount of time you're willing to invest in a single project, etc.  The lowest cost, and quickest turn-around is probably casual flash games.  But, you usually need a great concept, and/or very high quality art to make more than 3k total revenue (sponsor, licenses, and lifetime ads revenue) from each game.  On the other hand, browser-based games can generate 10-100x that revenue but require much higher investment and a long-term commitment (with the risk of actually losing money). 

There's a ton of money going into all the casual game sectors right now (flash, broweser-based, iphone, etc.) so as previous poster said, you definitely don't want to lose your day job and pin your hopes on revenue from a new game because all the sectors have become and will continue to become even more competitive.

^^Agrees^^

Also, nothing attracts talent better than talent itself.  Your first step is to put together an online portfolio ... doesn't have to be anything elaborate.  You can even just use a free upload site to start.  But, you have to show a potential partner your skills so they know you're serious and competent. 

Another thing to consider is for your first project you might want to let someone else lead.  It's a lot easier to find programmers if you say "Hey, anyone need some art help for your project?".  At least you'll get something tangible in your portfolio and gain some experience and a programmer contact.

A little while ago I released a twitter game ... http://snods.com ... so if you're on twitter and not quite sure what to do it, then there's a little time-killer for you.  Would be interested to hear feedback from "real game developers" 

Hello all.

I'm not your typical game developer.  My backgrouns is corporate software development and IT services.  I always wanted to develop games and spent a lot of time with torque and with conitec's gamestudio but never was able to complete a full game.

A few years I accidentally stumbled into browser-based games and I now design, develop, manage several as a full-time business.  I own/operate itch.com and a bunch of other game sites where my games are hosted.

As a one-man shop I'm reaching out for inspiration, support, knowledge-sharing, partners for future projects, an occasional kick in the ass when I'm screwing up, a virtual shot of whiskey and a few laughs.  Maybe even a kick in the ass to restart my blog which has been an on and off endeavor for several years.