"Looking at candy" is such a good description of Synapse games on the 1702. I had Zaxxon, Necromancer, and Blue Max. Many Access Software titles were beautiful too (Beach Head, Raid Over Moscow,etc). Fun times!
Can confirm this to be true. I was lucky enough to sell my tech startup a few years ago and become a multi-millionaire overnight. I did the usual newly-rich stuff like buy a sports car, take vacations, go to the beach a bunch, etc. It became boring, and I started sliding into bad behaviors such as drinking most days. I knew I had to change it up for my own health and sanity, so I started another company. This has given me something to do with my day and I'm much happier and healthier for it.
I'm not sure if the allure is necessarily the bohemian way of feeling poor. I think much of it has to do with the minimalism of the experience. The ability to pack up and move on at a moments notice has 'starting over' feel to it, which can be quite nice. Kind of like refactoring crufty code.
I'm somewhat curious as to how much ageism is prevalent in these opportunities. From what I've seen, a large percentage of the staff/lifestyle pics associated with these companies show an endless sea of smiling employees in their late 20s & early 30s. Is there room for devs beyond that age?