Gaming Backlogs Are Stressful

I feel I have spent more time looking for games to play/buy than actually playing them

My 2 rules for gaming: if a game feels like a chore and/or makes you think of your backlog, don`t play it anymore. If a game makes you forget you are playing it, that is the game for you.

To throw my penny into the pot. Something I've been coming to terms with as I've been reckoning with my backlog, and frankly, as a human being is that we're not meant to experience everything. Find and enjoy the experiences life places into your hands, but you have to make peace and realize that not everything in this world I'm afraid is for each of us to experience. I honestly, deeply regret my decision with owning so many games because I can never find it in me to justify replaying a game. It's made gaming become such a miserable, stressful endeavor that feels increasingly like a full time job as I try to work through all of this goddamn media. I used to own over 2000 games managed to shake it down to 539 games in my backlog. But even then that's just disgusting and truly ridiculous. Take the time to truly appreciate the media you consume, from books, shows, music, performances, anything. There is a deep appreciation and bond that is formed when you come to truly enjoy and consider what you own and engage with. I just feel like we kind of built a hollow hell for ourselves when in-reality we could be so much richer as people if we consumed more in moderation and took the time to actually "taste and savor" things.

I have started tackling my backlog by simply making sure I play 1 game from my backlog between any new game purchases, I find it has been working well for me the last few months, if there is a game coming up that I want to play on release I choose a backlog game to play that would be quite short to play

Banger video as usual! The way I handle my backlog is instead of making it beforehand, I make it as I go. The checklist gets filled out as I finish each game, and I add it to the list. It helps me keep track of what progress I’m making, without actually feeling pressured to do any of it. It’s very freeing, while also making me feel accomplished. That’s how I handle it at least.

I have over 600 physical games in my backlog and it can be overwhelming thinking of how much time it would take to complete them all. I do track my backlog because I enjoy marking a game complete; I find it so satisfying. Although I would never make a list of what I have to play next. I only play what I'm in the mood for but knowing I get to mark it off my backlog list when finished gives me a little extra motivation to keep going and not get distracted by all the other shiny games.

Since June last year, I’ve been on a really good pace, finishing at least one game a week (as in games that are 4-8 hours), and I’m still having a great time. I’ve been taking my time with longer games like paper Mario and persona 5 while playing other games, and it hasn’t been that stressful. I learned pretty early on that deadlines and setting which games to play ahead of time just isn’t fun, and I’m happy you highlighted that in the video. Definitely subbing

Great topic. I suffer from game backlog guilt. Glad I'm not the only one. Once a game feels like "work", I take a break. Sometimes I come back. Sometimes I don't. I have so many games I haven't even played yet. I play all games on easy so I can get through as many as fast as I can to get to the next. I don't speed run. I have a wife, kids, job so many other responsibilities. Time is a premium.

I really do think this is something people need to hear. I used to play games the exact way you described in the beginning of the video. I didn’t necessarily have a backlog, but I just played through the main stories and moved right along to the next game because there was just so much I wanted to play, but that only made me retain very little of what I did actually play. I’ve since come to realize I enjoy taking my time with games, and never liked the idea of having a backlog much, instead just having my next game be whatever interests me most at the time. I always liked to just focus on one game until I finished it because I don’t like leaving them unfinished or following multiple games/stories at once, and fairly recently jumped even farther down that spectrum by becoming a completionist in the games I play. it’s a much more fulfilling experience that teaches me so much more about the games I’m playing rather than just speeding through the story and moving on, and it makes everything much more memorable. that’s the thing that works for me, and everyone should just be free to play how they want to without stress. this is a great video, and the subject is something that interests me a ton so apologies for the longer comment lmao, keep up the great work and I look forward to future content!

When I was a kid, I only had a few games per console (and I had SNES, N64, and PS2 from my childhood to my teen years). It was so much better, because I wasn’t overwhelmed by a huge library, and I would play the hell out of each game. I would also lend out my games to friends and borrow theirs in order to experience other games. It was cool. Fast forward to today, and now I have a Steam Deck with over 150 games! You’re 100% right that it does feel stressful having this many games, even though I know I’m not obligated to complete them (a lot of them are from emulation). In a way, I miss the old days where I wasn’t able to have so many games at once.

Solid video, I was stressing about building up too much backlog, and somehow now I care less

0:51 I, and my notion backlog, feel personally attacked

Backlogs got me like the matrix, i’m in this bish and I can’t get out. In all seriousness shoot i remember the times i’ve felt bad for not finishing them especially when i said i’m going to do it but just gotta remember that yeah i’ll get through it eventually instead of forcing through it and just trying to go with the flow on what to play. And shoot never knew there were websites like that to log through the backlog, gonna look them up from curiosity. Really good video and topic! 💙

I’m slowly getting through my backlog, but streaming is what has actually kept me accountable for finishing most of my games. I also understand that I’m not really a “gamer” and I know what I’m capable of as a casual player. For games that I’m interested in but I know I won’t ever play, I watch a playthrough. I used to feel bad doing that but I realize there is just not enough time to get through everything. Taking it step by step!

Great video, 100% agree. Do what you want, when you want. That’s one of the main points of gaming. So just do what makes you happy!

A saw in another video discussing backlogs that offered an excellent suggestion: Tie your backlog to a gaming fund. For every game on your backlog you finish, give yourself $5. As you build up enough "credit," then you can get a new game and add it to the backlog, keeping things moving. It forces you to be more selective about the games you buy (sales included) and makes you prioritize playing the games you have first. It helps give you something to look forward to, where completing games leads directly to new ones rather than a checklist for the sake of it. Like others have suggested, I've also started more seriously asking myself the question when I'm playing something, "is this game actually fun for me?" And then I have to honest about it. Just because someone in a forum says the game is amazing and I should beat it three times doesn't mean it's a hit with me, and in that sense, put it down, cross it off, and move on. I've gotten a lot better with this and it's certainly helped speed things up.

I found your channel because of this video and I have to say it’s absolutely fantastic in every way. I have very similar experiences to you, all the games in my backlog are games I really wanted to play too, and when I finally complete one it absolutely ends up as a very special game. These tend to be games I like to revisit a fair amount and sometimes just feel like playing because they’re familiar and comforting, exactly like what you said about playing with your old stuffed animals again and still loving them just as much as the new ones. Then we get to the Xenoblade example, for me, I have been playing the Xenoblade games since the first was re-released on the DS in 2015 since back then a wii copy would cost upwards of $100+! I absolutely adore these games simply because I played them when I felt like it. It’s taken me 9 years to beat 1 and 2, and I’m currently working on 3 (and a replay of 1), and I’ve shed tears over these games, I’ve played them for hours since I had to know what happens next, and their story and characters mean so much to me. But it only happened because I gave myself the time to experience it all at my own pace. Anyway I’ll stop rambling, but definitely subscribing ☺️

How I like to handle my backlog and enjoy games in general is to plan around new releases and when what I call the “off season” comes around which is when it’s a good few months between game releases I’m looking forward to, I look at my backlog and just choose whatever I feel at that moment and have fun

Managing games as a kid was much easier since unless you were spoiled rotten, you'd get/buy maybe 1 game a month and often had no other choice then to play that one game (which you may or may not have enjoyed). Nowadays as an adult you tend to have the fund to buy what you want, when you want and for people like me that have severe choice paralysis its a struggle. As such, i do use backloggery to keep track of my games and sometimes just open a fortune cookie (random game picker) if all i want to do is crap shoot for a game to try on my list. More often then not though ill look up gameplay for a game i have and see if it something im interested in and then try it out if it picks that urge to want to try it (for ma happens more often then not lol). All in all, i do buy a lot of games ill never really consider playing, but they are nice to have in case i change my mind later.

You are absolutely right, looking at what we need to play is a herculean task most of the time. I was making great progress on my own Backlog but my Computer just went critical. This sets me back quite a bit. Only have beat 7 so far this year, trying to get another 100+ games this year just like last year (115 in 2023). Here I was trying to tackle all my Jrpg games, but this was what killed my PC. At least Ni No Kuni and Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World were fun. Great video, I always enjoy when people discuss gaming Backlogs.