I'm wondering if I should invest $200 into an indie game programmed by me, or if the money is better saved. $100 will be spent getting the game on the iOS App Store, since there is a fee for that, and $100 will be spent buying premade royalty free art and music off the internet, since it tends to be cheaper than hiring an artist or musician. And I'm willing to take the slight negativity I might get for doing so, buying music and art that people might recognize.

In the past, I have been occasionally laughed at for my endeavors. Although that was mostly out of misunderstanding. So naturally I worry that the game has a chance of crashing and burning, if people don't understand it well enough. This is one of my main concerns.

I pull in a little under $500 a month right now.

I'm not sure at what point I should stop telling information and end the question, but the game is a game where you are a light in outer space, and uses particle systems to produce most, not all, of the graphics. It goes like this:

"Every 100 years, a Dark Seed is planted by a magical Knight. From this Dark Seed is born a light. The light is to be demolished to harvest power to Earth for 100 years. Most lights give up willingly, knowing their purpose. Your light overhears the magical Knight telling a henchman that the lights can provide light to the world while alive, but that they must be demolished anyway because he wants it to be done. Your light must now survive the attack and face the magical Knight for demolishing all the lights when it wasn't necessary. The magical Knight reveals that if you destroy him, no one will be able to plant another light, so the Earth will end in 100 years when your life is up. Or sooner. He says that demolishing the lights is the only way because the lights can't provide power to Earth as adults. You defeat the Knight anyway. The end."

I am not necessarily looking for lots of feedback on the story, or else I wouldn't be posting in Business, but the more info I provide, the better you can weigh.

Also, please don't suggest crowdfunding. I've had some negative experiences with it in the past and if I do spend money, I'd rather it be my own.

If I recall, the app store takes a 30% cut. If you price your game at $1, that means you get $0.70 per sale (excluding government taxes). That means you'd have to sell 285 copies to make back the $200 invested. (But your iOS license I think can be used for multiple games, as long as they are released within one year of purchasing the license... I think. I haven't released anything on iOS yet).

If your game is already finished or near finished, post a screenshot. Does it look like a game >285 people would want to buy, from the screenshot alone?

Consider pricing it at $1.50, since I'd guess that people who are willing to spend $0.99 would also be willing to spend $1.50 (though you might take some flak in the comments - just ignore that). You'd recoup your investment sooner (after 190 sales).

Ofcourse you also need to take into account government taxes and your own time being invested. So you might want to aim for 500 sales. But at the same time, you'd also need to take into account "experience gained" as part of the value you are getting out of it. In that case, even 0 sales may still be "break even" if you are trading $200 for experience. But you can't just not learn anything and claim it's experience to make yourself feel better.

I spent $50 or so on the assets to this game and spent half the time with it I plan on spending: http://i59.tinypic.com/m93gas.jpg

Both games are about lights, but aren't exactly the same.

Unfortunately, I have to build from scratch, though. I don't think the gameplay of the pictured game is enough, and I'm using a new engine.

Looks visually pleasing enough to me. If the gameplay is decent, I'd go for it.

I'd say go for it and don't worry. The $100 for the App Store is worth it because you can make multiple games. and you should easily be able to claw it back. Whilst the app store is not the goldmine it used to be it is still fairly easy for a good developer to make a steady income from it.
As for the art assets it depends if you think they are worth the $100 and also what kind of licence is on them. I have paid for assets from Graphic River and the quality has been exceptional but, I've also heard bad things from other people who have bought assets from other places and whilst the screenshots look good the assets have been far from "game ready".

Of course you don't need to buy your app store licence until you are almost ready to publish and you could hold off purchasing and use placeholders until you have gotten a feel for if the game mechanics work or not.

Consider pricing it at $1.50, since I'd guess that people who are willing to spend $0.99 would also be willing to spend $1.50 (though you might take some flak in the comments - just ignore that).

That's actually funny:

- People who are ok spending $0.99 don't actually tend to want to buy a game that is $1.50. It's weird, as I don't truly understand the inner workings but luckily...

- People that don't purchase a $0.99 game are MORE LIKELY to purchase a $1.50 one. The rationale that was enforced on these stats is that these people feel like the developer feels like he's put something "good" on the market, which justifies the price increase. To avoid shovelware, people are then likely to spend the extra 50 cents. Of course, this applies better to Google Play's Android market where it is easier, and therefore more commonplace, to ship shovelware, but the appstore has a lot of it regardless.

$200 isn't, but if you feel this can improve the quality of your product significantly, I would got for it. If anything, you'll learn what $200 nets you, and whether it is a worthy investment. It will also teach you a bit about buying licensed content, etc. A definite plus if you intend to ship more games in the future.

Best of luck!