Interested in seeing how other people approach their backlog. I’ve finally made a list of all the games I want to finish, and I’m forcing myself to play one of them a day for at least an hour.
As an added incentive, I’m forcing myself to wait to finish a backlog game before I can buy a new one. I’ve got a lot of playing to do between now and October.
I clear my mind of the concept of a backlog, and embrace the idea that games are for my entertainment - thus if I am not currently feeling entertained, I can put the game down and not play it without guilt.
TL:DR; There is no backlog.
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For me it’s just there’s more games that I really want to play than I have time for. Some of them on my “backlog” I haven’t even purchased yet but I know I want to play them eventually
My man!
Simple, I don’t. I play whatever I feel like playing, sometimes I stick with it, sometimes I start again after a year and well sometimes, I never touch that game again.
I don’t have a backlog, I have a collection.
Gave up on that a long time ago 🤣
These days I mostly just have a nebulous list in the back of my mind of what games I want to get to and when I finish one (which, the Steam Deck has been a huge help with focusing down one game at a time), I move along to the next.
Also, I started cataloging what I’ve played on Grouvee, which is as close as I was able to find to Goodreads for games. Helps to be able to go back and look over what I’ve “accomplished” in the list of completed games.
Ooo, I’m gonna have to check that you!
I install all the games I have purchased but did not play. If I run out of storage, that absolutely means I shouldn’t purchase new games.
Luckily that hasn’t been the issue. Ever since doing this I’ve gone through my backlog and played a lot of games I had, and I’m close to being done. This summer sale will be my first time in a while to purchase a lot of games.
On top of this I add that I won’t uninstall something unless I finished it
Yes, that.
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See, my hard drive footprint weighs heavily on my mind, so I think this would stress me out haha
What’s a hard drive footprint?
It’s supposed to be on your mind. You shouldn’t have more games than you can possibly play within a year. :)
Just how much general space I have available on my hard drive.
How large is your HDD?
I keep track of the games I own on Backloggery.
I know others are saying that having a backlog means treating gaming like a job you need to do.
But for me, it’s about reminding myself that I don’t always need to buy interesting games just because they are on sale or because I think I want to play them in the future.
There was period of time years back when I was buying dozens of games each year and not even playing half of them. Even if I’m buying games on sale that was hundreds of dollars a year I was spending on stuff I wasn’t using.
I only have a limited time these days to play games, so I have even more of a reason to check my purchases. And sometimes I’ll check my backlog and notice a game that I actually do want to play (or even play again).
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I don’t…
The backlog is too strong, and I don’t have the time
Seconded. I used to really think about it a lot. For me now, if I want to play it I’ll eventually get around to it or make time. If I don’t / can’t its not the end of the world.
I handle it by dropping things off the backlog if they are too old.
I rarely buy games since PS+ Extra so I’m not buying games to never play them. If I do buy a game it goes right to the top of the list of games to play because I obviously really wanted it.
By not having a backlog in the first place.
I do have thousands of games on my library, but it’s a library. I only pick up the game I’m having an exact itch for, and I put them on hold until I get the itch again, exactly like I do with music albums.
No pressure, no rushing. I can recommend every single game from my library from firsthand experience because I’ve enjoyed every single second of my time playing them.
I have a few that I haven’t played but own, for other reasons - but beyond that, dealing with the library really is far less daunting when the relationship with it isn’t one of obligation.
It’s better to play a game you want then to think you need to play the game.
The game isn’t gone it just has to wait. Also don’t buy new games if you aren’t going to play them or play a hour and never return, that’s just wasting money and time
Yeah, I don’t like the “backlog” mentality. It makes gaming sound like a list of chores, full of tedium and a sense of obligation. I buy games I know I’m going to want to play eventually, and I’ll get to them when I get to them. My goal isn’t to “clear my backlog” it’s to have fun, play what feels right to play, and go at my own pace.
I recently finished two games I’ve had for years (God of War: Origins Collection, PS3). My process is to plan ahead, categorize my games by genre. When I’m in the mood for a genre, I’ll narrow them down to one game/series & play as much as I can. when I’m bored, I’ll move onto another genre, that way I’m not overwhelming myself with the same types of games. of course this means I have a lot of half-finished games as well. Try to finish games when you can before starting a new one. I often switch between long & short games to avoid monotony.
If I spend more than 5 minutes trying to decide what to play, I use one of the Steam game pickers and just go with it.
I do this sometimes with TV shows. I have a library of things I know I want to watch at some point. I roll a die and watch what it tells me. Honestly, I’ve been pretty happy with the process.
I just consider it a collection and not a backlog. Makes me feel a little better about all the $$ I’ve wasted.
Especially when a good chunk of them are remakes. I think I have a problem.
I don’t have a backlog, I have a lot of options what I might be playing next. There is no pressure to finish or even play any of them.
I install only two games: one AAA or long one, and one indie/short one. I choose on of the two per day depending on my mood, but I won’t install any other one until I finish them. It worked well so far, and it also helped with the limited storage the deck has (yes, playing mostly on deck, but I guess it helps no matter the setup)
What are you working through currently?
I came back to switch for TOTK (I’m an avid steam deck user that haven’t touch the switch for months, but this is an special occasion), and Cult of the Lamb for any other day.
So far for this year it’s looking like the answer is: I’m not.
Too many good games coming out this year!
