The answer to great things is observation and interest, then achieve through doing & learning and Learning and doing.
Patience is needed as already stated.
Being unique is something each one of us is born with, but small bits of that can be lost during the search of info in the big pile of knowledge already established.
Same goes for being/becoming indie developer, one moment there is this spark of having that great idea, and the next moment research starts.
While researching most of the time happens by looking at "the big pile of whats already out there" one can easily lose track of their initial sparkling idea.
Maybe that idea was only there to learn something new and needed for the next step.
And maybe that next step is the unique breakthrough that'l reach lots of people.
Games that set apart are mostly based on what is unique, although it might not be obvious at first glance.
With minecraft, it was clearly noticeable, a new era of creativity.
But when we look at the next iteration of call of duty or need for speed it seems not unique at all.
However through the eyes of the player that is new to the game, its either the greatest thing in the world, or not their cup of tea.
The more people that become players, the more game-judges we have to face.
Being in front of a judge is not the nice'st thing to do, especially if they are with many and "not into" that new game you've worked very hard on.
So with that comes a choice: Do we focus on the people who like, or do not like.
And which do we be our selves.
Then there is also the most important variable in this scope which are newborn players.
Each day babies come to planet earth and while we might think of them as non player because they are to young, they will get older and come into contact with video games.
To them int the future call of duty 2050 might be the most unique thing ever created, but it also might be your indie game.
Getting noticed should not be a focus, cause it can distract from the foundation of what most indie's are doing.
However this is a hard thing not to focus on, it is also something u can become profoundly good at.
As with anything in this world there is one simple rule for getting noticed.
"Interesting things, are a gift to interested people"
So if the focus is on that which "is" interesting, then the interested will be there, each day new players are alive.