go back to school, work hard, and get a degree.

.

Addendum:

Get a degree in a field that is actually hiring college graduates.

Most folks realize ( way too late ) that any degree that has "game" in the title is almost completely worthless in real life ( in US markets ) .

If you are unemployed and broke, that is your problem #1! Forget game dev at the moment, if you are not a professional already.

I was unemployed for a year, I had plenty of time for programming (job hunting didn't really took 8 hours a day, and even if it did, it was nearly not as tiring as a full time job). I learned tons, I completed a game and my portfolio grew greatly (a portfolio that got me job offers and helped my in getting my current one, even though I don't have a degree).

once you get past the basic hurdles of tools, skills, and time required, the next problem you'll most likely face on any project of any significant size would probably be timely and cost effective asset creation / acquisition. that and reducing the iteration cycle are the two biggest bottlenecks to development, once you're up and running.