Hi people, I’m a rookie with limited experience in Unity (e.g. none). Alas, I am also haunted by a concept for a game and want to look into the possibility of creating this on my own (2D). I do have a couple of obstacles, for example being a family man with a full-time job. What does that translate into? 1 hour per day. It’s no problem making actual use of that hour (I have published a couple of novels that way / in my primary language), but this IS new territory for me. Therefore my question: Is it viable to learn that way? Keep in mind that I’m ancient (45 years) 
I do have time however and am willing to spend 3-5 years on this project and would be able to work more doing holidays. Is such a learning process actually possible or am I kidding myself?
You’d likely be better off with a much simpler tool that does more heavy lifting for you and offers fewer options - like game maker or rpg maker, I dont remember the name but somebody here will know. Basically a tool that gets you to content production phase of development as soon as possible.
This video provides a good overview of basic phases of development for a soloist:
How To PLAN your Game as a Solo Developer - YouTube
I think the author is using one of those specialist 2d game engines, though the video is general theory.
If you used unity or any of the BIG game engines, I’d expect many hundreds of hours just to get to grips with the engine. If you are super focused and are able to identify precisely the parts you need and dabble in nothing else, theoretically you could cater the engine to be like one of those simpler game makers, but I think it’s better to just not put so much food on the table to begin with if you know what i mean.
Big problem with computer work like this is that there is always 1000 ways to do something, and whichever way you try can always be improved, so it becomes endless loop. Thats why fewer options may be better if you just wanna get something done and it can be done with common tools and workflows.
In that regard, you could consider unity a big fancy kitchen for big fancy chefs, but you are a humble home cook who only needs a recipe to follow, to which youll change a few spices but you certainly dont need an entire professional kitchen.
Thank you for the answer. It sounds logical, I will look closely into that possibility 
Another possible approach is of course to hire someone to do the main thing for me (assuming that 200-300 hours of work could constitute a solid foundation), but this honestly sounds overly demanding when you don’t know how to do anything, sigh. Also: Big games take SO many years to create, but what about small titles? My main problem is a distinct lack of knowledge, so forgive the newbie questions.
Yes, that also means I’m considering other options: My main objective remains to create this little darling of mine, the specific way to that goal is secondary truth be told.
small games also take years to make 
Hiring somebody would be dangerous use of your money I think, especially if you don’t know anything about game making. Won’t be able to tell who knows what they are doing or not.
you could also hire tutor… like 1hr/week (for even just few months),
they would just watch you learn and work inside unity, or perhaps give you small tasks to solve, and help when needed, or suggest best practices or easier ways of doing things in unity… that would really cut several months or years compared to learning alone from scratch.
That’s actually a really good idea, thanks.
Yeah, my initial thought exactly. Maybe it would be beneficial to combine your suggestion with the tutoring idea mentioned below. I’m trying to locate an entry point that could lead me into heaven (e.g. create this game of mine). The paradox is that I’ve only got few hours per day, but at the same time I can spend several years on it (and yeah, I do realize the math is not exactly good per se).
yeah a mentor/tutor is great idea. I’ve done that myself. probably saved years of effort.