Zach, gaming industry is indeed a lot harder than it sounds, but it is also very rewarding.
I wouldn't suggest people who need a lot of money in their lives to do it.
Mostly I would suggest it to those that feel they have vocation for it.
I am not sure how game development is for people that design board games and RPG books.
But that is what I can tell you about my experience with mobile development.
It involves working with a lot of people and being very passionate about an idea at first.
Then working in actually making that idea happen.
And that can be really stressful.
Things rarely go as planned, and you will need to compromise, and that can not be that nice.
Sometimes, you will be on a ticking clock as well, and it will require crunching hard. Which is bad.
But in the end, you end up with a product that is more or less what you envisioned(if your have a good manager), and that is very nice.
And you get feedback on it, which makes you feel validated.
At least, that has been my experience.