One tiny thought about writing your own games, is that playing them isn't as much fun as playing games written by other people. This applies even if you're pleased with how the game turned out, and the main reason is that part of the attraction of playing a game is to see what comes next. In Sim City you keep building a population to see what rewards you get; in Transport Tycoon it's to see what new vehicles appear; in Arkanoid it's to see what new level designs and bonuses await. When you write your own game, you're already aware of what awaits you, even if your game is sufficiently difficult that you can't get there.

With Barkout, I know what levels I created, I know what bonuses there are, and I know what the final boss looks like and how to defeat him.

Knowing these things does take a lot of the fun out of the game, even if the mechanics themselves are spot on.