How do you people manage a large backlog?

A piece at a time. I do end up buying more games than I end up playing, so I know I'll never be able to go through the whole of my backlog. But I try.

Weep everytime I think about the games that I want to play and realize that I don't have the time for it.

Ignore it and hope it goes away lol

I fail miserably. I have hundreds of unplayed games on Steam and a a few dozen PS4 games, both personally bought and PS+ games, that I still have to play. I will never be able to get through all that shit, especially with so many upcoming games that I need to play as well.

I need to win the lottery, quit my job and stop sleeping to have more time for gaming :(

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) said:

I've tracked down every single game I've wanted or might want going back over ten years.

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This is madness mate =P can you imagine doing the same thing with books or whatever?

You'll never consume all the high quality media in the world, videogames included. I don't think that way, makes no sense.

I realized I don't really like collecting stuff so I don't, I'm only buying the few games I can play with full time job and stuff.

Be a collector if you want, but don't say to yourself you're gonna play your 3500 games. Not happening. :)

I don't...
I have 5 3SD games to start but probably I will never play them...
I also have a LOT of steam games... I really am interested in some of these but...
On PS4 I have 3 games sitting (but are PSplus games that i'm interested in, not buyed though they are free...), and 3 on PSVITA too... Oh also 1 on PSVR...

Damn... but lately I'm trying not to buy anything until I can play it...

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) said:

I digress. How do you manage your collection? Do you have any good collection /backlog database website to help you keep track of what you purchase and play? Do I have an illness? I have to admit it's been really fun tracking these games down.

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Backloggery.com for what I actually play, and collectorz.com for the actual collection.
Both are very good for their intended purpose, although the latter isn't free.

I used to have a backlog; then I sold it. I feel a lot better now.

I've been slowly shrinking mine, and trying to get through new games as they come out instead of waiting cause then I'll wait years before playing.
I also divided my backlog into "real backlog" and "games I bought on a whim and might never play". My real backlog is down to just a little over 20 games now, and it was twice that just a couple years ago. Giving up raiding in FFXIV is what helped......though it's what caused most of it in the first place.

Buying games cheap digitaly on XboxOne produced a big backlog for me xD

I keep a big stack of games next to my TV and try to focus mostly on two at a time, while juggling maybe 4 - 6.

Only when I get a really great game like God of War is it easy for me to stay on track with just one title.

I recently played through nearly the entire Uncharted series with nothing in between. That was actually a lot of fun (barring 3's stupid difficulty spikes and its abundance of bullet spongy enemies), and I highly recommend it to anyone with the means. The only reason I even had that opportunity was I skipped getting a PS3 last gen and ended up having loads of exclusives to catch up on when I bought a PS4.

I recently started using my backloggery account (turns out I registered a few years back and forgot about it) and am trying to just focus on three games at a time. I think it's helping.

Plus I'm trying not to play multplayer-centric/MMOs anymore. They are huge timesinks and often prove psychologically addicting for me with their repetitive gameplay loops. How many great new experiences am I missing out on in favour of doing the same things over and over? So I just play Path of Exile as I don't feel compelled to play it and, even then, after this league I'll be done for a while.

I've learned to accept that there are more games I would want to play than I will ever have time to play.

And I've just become okay with leaving some cool games by the wayside and just focus on whatever I'm most hyped about at any given time. The real gems always have staying power: people keep talking about them even years later. So when I'm finishing up with something and looking for something new, there's often conversations going on about other games that I might have initially passed up, but now have time for.

I guess what it comes down to is that I don't force myself to go through decades of stuff I wanted to play but never got to. I just follow whatever I'm most excited for and don't think about what's getting left behind so much.

I buy one game at a time and don't buy another until I'm done with this one. Simple.

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) said:

I don't have that many games. :P I have ~350 on PC between Steam, uPlay, Origin, and GoG and I have the games pictured in the OP. Someone said it very eloquently earlier. It's like my own highly curated game rental service. I don't think I'll make it through all of them but I like to know that when I get the itch to play something that it's accessible. I'm watching too many of the games I either user to have or missed on the N64, GameCube, and PS2 become $70+ which is my hard limit.

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That's fine, I personally don't like seeing piles of unplayed stuff I actually paid for, you need to be into collecting stuff to enjoy that imo, but it works for you, great. :)

I only play every game for 1 hour a day and then switch to the next.

I play what I want when I want instead of treating it as a list of things I must complete.

I don't think of it as a backlog. It's just a large selection to choose from every time I want to play a new game. I very rarely buy a game anywhere near release. The most I spent is about £20 and even that is quite rare. Usually it's under £10 a game. Paying so little means I don't feel this pressure to play everything.

I use it as a library. Pick a game you feel like playing at this given moment, play it, finish it, repeat.

The possible downside of playing catchup this way is you don't end up playing too many hyped new releases, but I can't say it bothers me too much.

The way I do it:

make a list of your backlog

figure out (and be honest with yourself) which ones you actually care to even play

delete the ones you dont and look up the avg play time for em

play from shortest time to longest to get you into the groove of pumping these games out

If a game comes out that you really want to play pause and play that game before its added to the list eventually the number of games will go down as long as you dont constantly buy games like a lunatic.

Just try to complete games one or few at the time. Yesterday completed Breath of the wild after a year (console and game was stolen midway so had to start over).

Backlog ia growing but I don't stress it.

I keep lists of the games I own, and my top priorities. Unfortunately, I can't stick to one game for long and always get sidetracked. As a result, I end up juggling 10-12 games at a time across a number of platforms. I do my best to finish most of them, but the number of games I'm playing at any one moment in time does not go down, as I go on to pick up new ones on a whim.

It's unhealthy and pretty exhausting, but I can't force myself to sit down and play one game at a time for more than 2 hours recently.

Likely a big backlog means its owner doesn't deal with it.

Anti said:

I ignore it and it keeps growing.

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Pretty much this, haha. I've gotten much more selective over the years.

I try to finish backlog games before buying new ones.

I try to have a max of 3 per category. and have like 5 categories, so 12-15 games on the backlog at any given time. I also avoid long games like Persona 5 unless I have plenty of time ahead, like a vacation

Just accept that you won't be able to play everything you want before you die.

We don't.

I'm saving them so if one day the industry crash I'll have some good games to play.

I play what I want when I want. The key is just not caring if you have unplayed games in your collection. Maybe you'll get the urge to play them one day and maybe you won't but it's fine either way. Don't treat getting through it like a job, treat it as if your a kid let loose on a toy store with all the choice in the world.

A huge backlog is only a problem if your spending more then you can afford on building it.

i pretty much stopped buying new games and focused on the ones i had already bought. there are some "must have now" exceptions, but when i buy those i play them to completion and move back to the backlog.

reality is though, you ain't going to play everything you like the look of. my list of "want to play" games is 75 strong now. i may not have bought them but they feel like a secondary backlog that i have yet to waste money on. i'll likely get around to playing a tenth of them maybe? because as time goes on, more "must have now" games get released and the chances to get around to that list gets smaller.

I don't buy games anymore unless I am going to play it right away. Bundles on the other hand I buy all the time on the off chance I might play it since it's a good deal. Pretty sure my Steam library is over 600 and I've played a small fraction of that. Just ignore it and play what you want.

Dreamboum said:

I don't manage it. I think about all the games I can play and then just proceeds to shitpost on resetera about videogames that aren't even released for the rest of the day.

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One of the very first topics I created on the former site was about how I would find myself going here (there) to read and talk about games more than I would actually play them. A lot of people replied saying they did the same thing. For the past few hours I've been here, mostly on EtcetEra talking about the boys trapped in Thailand, instead of playing a bunch of games I'm currently juggling.

These days I have so many games I know I'll never even play that I find just reading and talking about them to be more enjoyable a lot of the times.

when i moved from -s3/360 to PS4 i looked at the pile of games still in . thewir shrinkwrap that i knew i would never play

I made a conscious decision - no more backlog - i now have a game on the go, a side game - something small or indie - and my next game lined up.

i don't buy any more games no matter how cheap they are.

i much prefer gaming this way - i feel liberated. id recommend it.

Stranger Things said:

we don't

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preach

I don't so much have a backlog with games anymore (I keep a wishlist instead, which considering the long running time and variable price of games, is far cheaper).

What I do have a huge pile of, untouched, is books. The way I manage it is to put them all away neatly, and just have a varied handful on my bedside table. Like a 'now reading' shortlist. It avoids choice paralysis and is something I used to do all the time when I had a games backlog, just have a single system hooked up and a small stack of games next to it. I'd avoid the compulsion to finish games, just make a point of trying them. Either finish/get my fill of them and put them away, or sell them on if they didn't interest me after a couple of hours. What I learned from it was was that a good quarter of the stuff I bought didn't hold my attention at all, and so now I'm far, far more choosy.

You don't. You play what you want whenever you want depending on mood.

Never understood this whole backlog mentality. Sounds like it would suck the life out of the hobby immediately.

Hoo-doo said:

You don't. You play what you want whenever you want depending on mood.

Never understood this whole backlog mentality. Sounds like it would suck the life out of the hobby immediately.

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I agree with this. Not every purchase is a winner, not every game is something that I would play to completion. If I so desire, I go back and play some of them again, but I can sleep well enough without needing to juggle my "backlog" as if it were an obligation.

My backlog is a lot smaller than it was in the past.

I create folders on my PS4 with the following:

- currently playing
- general fun folder (i.e. things that I will dip into every now and then: Rocket League, SFV)
- ps+
- to be played

In regards to physical, I learned to not buy anything that I wouldn't immediately play. I also stopped buying retro games as I simply do not have the time with all the new releases I want to play. Nostalgia is great, but I understand that I don't need to own the thing to enjoy the memories I have of that thing.

I also learnt that missing a game was not the end of the world. I've never played The Witcher, Bioshock, Mass Effect or PUBG and I don't care at all. There are a handful of things that I must play, but everything else is a luxury and subject to time and money.

I don't.

Simples.

I just buy more.

I make a doc that lists the most important games to play, eg., the ones that I have sequels to, or ones that have online trophies, then work through those first. I stick to playing 2 or 3 max and finish those before moving on to something else.

I just keep adding to it and then get lost and don't know what to play. I normally have a couple of chill games. These games are ones just mindless fun which I play to relax Destiny 2, Pes, shadow of war and rocket league. I then play a couple of main games at the same time. Currently playing Prey, Wolf 2, Alien and Resident evil 4. Also as I want to clear some of the telltale games so I'm playing them while eating currently game of thrones. It's all about managing the best way you can. Don't overthink it and just enjoy gaming. You backlog will always increase so don't feel you need to play every game or buy games at launch. Just work through you games at your pace and play what you feel like at that time. If your not feeling a game move on. Get a peace that you will never complete all the games you own or maybe even play any of them. When you enter the lovely stage in life where you have the despoable income to pick up games on a whim but have less time backlogs increase substantially.

Since last gen I always focus on one big game.
Have also a backlog because there are so many great PSN sales in Europe but it never feels like "work" when you start a new game.

And focusing on one game is imo a better experience.

Become poor -> stop buying games -> start selling your games -> voila!

Instead of buying games that i want to have in addition, I simply add them to the wish list. This accomplishes a similar feeling of not missing out. This gives me peace of working through games I actually own.

Dreamboum said:

I don't manage it. I think about all the games I can play and then just proceeds to shitpost on resetera about videogames that aren't even released for the rest of the day.

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Hahaha. What a hit. My backlog has become too crazy to handle now. I've sort of just a accepted it. Trying to cut back on what I buy.

Sorting out everything drastically I don't enjoy as much as the rest of the backlog. When I'm not hooked after one hour of gameplay, the game gets one strike. If there are major annoyances – strike two. If there are too many strikes (which can vary), I uninstall it and keep on with the rest; and repeat.

There was a time I hated to have unfinished (game) business/backlog, but since I stopped playing FFXIII in the middle of chapter 11 because I got worse for me, I simply watched the rest of the cutscenes on YouTube and moved on. In the end it felt more satisfying than to pull through.

Then again there are games that aren't particulary bad but I'm simply being indifferent about, or they don't work, crash a lot, or a bugged; I don't have time for this and will simply skip then. There are so many good games out there and I accepted the fact that I can't play everything, not even every good game.

Cybersai said:

I don't have a backlog. I simply don't start a new game till I finish the one I'm playing. I don't see why more people don't do this. It probably helps I rarely play online multiplayer.

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I should do this again. I guess as i got older and was able to afford games, l lost track and let mines build.

Edit: doesn't help that i try to be a completionist and play lots of RPGs.

I just play what I feel like playing, and I don't really feel bad about it if I get a game on sale that I never end up getting into. There's a bunch of games on my shelf I got for under $20 that I haven't cracked open yet, doesn't really bother me.

If I were buying full priced games and not playing them that would be more of an issue, and I would need to put a hold on my spending.

I think the main obstacle for me to getting through games in a backlog are those games that feel like a brick wall you hit. It's not terrible, but not great either and you're just grinding through it and playing it feels like a chore. To make things worse, it's one of those open world 50+ hour games. What I've learned to do is be OK with quitting games that you're not having fun with. That helps to keep making progress through that backlog.