Its really that not expensive or time consuming. You can get an engine for a 2D game pretty cheap these days and the team can have only one or two artist. Obviously everyone is doing charity work in the beginning, but with the right hype (we have NeoGAF at our disposal for critiques), it is tangible within a 1-2 year span.
You got yourself a game designer/programmer right here, we can make the dream happen with Smedwicks too, PM me if you're interested, I finished a project so I'm pretty free at the moment.
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