Hey thanks for getting back to me in such detail, that's very interesting! I usually tend to overscope my projects and then get stuck somewhere on the way but have recently adapted a similar style to what you describe. Barebones loop first, then everything else. Feels kinda... lackluster at the start, but at least its getting finished :D Taking part in a game jam definitely helped because you can NOT get away with procrastinating and overscoping there ^^
I wish you the best for your future projects and thanks for sharing some of your experience with me :)