Something I did not address. Sometimes games blow up without having direction. People can get lucky, studios can get lucky. But when you talk to them, you will noticed that they don't know how to explain their success. If you see succesful games at GDC often time they have their goals and they explain their direction. If you have a game that is successful is because they did these, whether they did it intentionally or not. It can happen by accident.
Something I did not address. Sometimes games blow up without having direction. People can get lucky, studios can get lucky. But when you talk to them, you will noticed that they don't know how to explain their success. If you see succesful games at GDC often time they have their goals and they explain their direction. If you have a game that is successful is because they did these, whether they did it intentionally or not. It can happen by accident.