[Discussion/Looking for help] Game making steps

A couple of you may have seen my id once or twice before as I tried to make a game and it didn't pass testing stage. In fact, afterward I have numerous attempts to make another game that is aimed to be rich in content and appealing in visual. Of course, I never succeed, and I have been trying to find out why I could never finish one game. I have noticed a few things and I guess some of the game makers have probably encountered the same issues, and I would like to maybe discuss a bit with you guys, and everyone else as well, so that I can get a bit help.

I have noticed that I really want to stuff all my ideas into one game and end up making the whole game very difficult to make and causes the story line to shift towards fulfilling my ideas rather than being consistent. Also, when I work on my game, I tend to spend some time on visual, and then some time on story, and ended up wasting a lot of time as some of the image I made never gets used (or the other way around, making story completely tangent to make use of my image).

TL;DR: We have a lot of amazing game makers here, and I just want to ask you guys: When working on a game, what steps do you take? Do you start with an outline, working around that and create visuals based on that, or do you have any specific procedures?

Any suggestion, idea would be appreciated!

Have fun while making a game! That's all!

I come up with a rough idea for the world where the game is based, then I just kinda go along as I work.

I've only made one small game but I did do a little note taking beforehand. I'll share a few a that helped me.

Planning:
Before I started I made sure I knew what the general theme of the game was. In my case it was horror/puzzle so I revolved everything around that.
Know who your characters are and what their personalities are like. What is the setting and why? Is there a story and how does it involve your characters? What's the 'pull' factor of the game? Scenes with images and dialogue? RPG battles? These are a few things you can ask yourself before you start.

Keep it simple:
If it's your first game then I'd recommend to start small and work your way up. You may have all these cool or kinky scenarios in your head but when it comes down to actually making them things might get tricky. Game making takes more time than most think so I'd say pick only your favorite ideas and focus on them, see if they're actually possible to make before going further. I planned on having 3 different girls explore a creepy mansion, each with different scenes and stories and clothing loss game mechanic. But life got in the way, my game making skills were limited and the process was very time consuming so I cut alot of stuff. Don't be afraid to simplify.

Experiment:
Everything doesn't have to planned to the wire. Try out ideas, play other similar games to get more ideas and then make something similar yourself. Having a rough plan of where your game is going is good (such as scene planning) but you fill in the blanks in-between however you like as long as it makes sense.

I'm rambling now. There's no real 'right' way to make a game, I'm the type that likes to plan stuff out but you might have a way of your own.

Thanks guys! I will try to work my way up then. It might take a very long time for this game to come out though