Gaming backlog - how do you deal with it?

So my fellow gamers, during my one week off work I have realized I have far too many games backed up, with newer ones to come and I have some games not even touched. I don't know how to deal with "picking" a game.

Usually if a game doesn't grip me within the first hour I lay it to the side. But I have also realized I am incredibly picky with that, and I also revel in "grindy" environments. I liked Fallout 4 more than what I saw of New Vegas (don't crucify me!). The backstory got me hooked, the color palette is more colorful (imho post apocalypse doesn't need to be BROWN). But what I really need is a way to quickly judge games and to also not abandon hidden gems far too quickly.

For personal reasons I need to get away from the computer (I waste hours on the machine while not even enjoying myself, just perpetually looking at cat pictures) more often, and when I get back I want my gaming time to be concise and in one or two games.

So how do you deal with your backlogs? What are your gripes with games? Do you also just enjoy masterpieces or do you play a more varied and experimental style of games? Do you like new games or do you pour 2k hours into Skyrim?

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Originally Posted by Sporeegg

So how do you deal with your backlogs?

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Well, one thing I've tried is to put my whole heap of 'eventual' titles in a folder, count up the total, then roll a dx to choose one. Then I've got to stick with it until I get at least one tro-ward-ment or a couple of hours. I haven't busted it out often, though, just when I think I'm between games.

I deal with my gaming backlog the same way I deal with my book backlog. It just means I have plenty of choice when I finish with one thing and need to figure out the next one.

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Originally Posted by Sporeegg

(I waste hours on the machine while not even enjoying myself, just perpetually looking at cat pictures)

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Quit that behavior entirely, restrict playing multiplayer games to avoid binging something like Warframe for hours, and reconfigure your thinking. While Steam boots up, don't browse the internet for "just a few minutes" unless it's on a phone, that usually will put you on a wild goose chase of cat pictures and you will realize hours later that you have no time. Get some discipline, if a game is a robust RPG you need to give a few minutes to really get into, just power through them to get to the meat. Alternately, start playing more games with a more instant gratification aspect that you can boot up quickly.

Consider gaming your hobby and if the backlog bothers you simply start taking said gaming a bit more seriously. I have a friend who notes down every book he's ever read; do that for games to add a sense of accomplishment.

I think a major point would be to remember that gaming is for fun, not for the sake of completion. Our backlog should consist of games that make us go "I can't wait to get home and play this", and not "darn, look at this backlog, how am I going to finish them all?". If this is not the situation at the moment, consider making a new backlog, and screw "having to" play stuff because you paid for it at some point in your life. Wasted hours are more precious than wasted dollars.

I like Winthur’s advice.

I clicked on the thread to commiserate. I have precious little game time. So very little. I work from 4:30 am to 1:30 pm, pick up my kids from school, then spend time with them until bed time, then I go to bed. Repeat.

Couple hours on the weekends though.

I have several games I’d like to play but haven’t opened, a few I started and would like to continue but haven’t, and a couple I’m actually playing. Then there are several which look good but I don’t own.

One thing that helped... I made a triage, typed up a list. Prioritize.

I don't.

Sure, there are loads of games I own that I either barely played, didn't play, or played for a bit and didn't like.

If I feel like it I'll pick one up and play it.

If they don't make it to the top of my desires when I'm deciding what to play then I won't. If they make me care then I'll finish them. If they don't they can go back on the shelf.

I don't regard it as a "backlog", it's just a bunch of available games I could choose to engage with as and when I please.

Biggest problem for my backlog was bloat, too many games bought on a whim but wasn't sufficiently interested in. I've become more selective of the games I buy and take the time to research them, think about whether I've really enjoyed similar games or prior games in a series. Try to play a new game for an hour or two once I buy it to be sure that I'm interested in playing it, and if in doubt, return it immediately (thank you Steam!). Ask myself, am I really going to play this, or will I never get around to it? A little self control has helped trim down the backlog significantly by not building it up in the first place.

There are plenty of games out there that I think could be fun, but I'm not going to buy them because I know it's just throwing money away.

My main issue issue is I play a lot of JRPGs and they're time-demanding even in the NES days. I especially have troubles where I get three-quarters of a way through a game then stop playing it, then a month goes by, then two, and so on and so on. So now I've forgotten most of what I've played to that point and decide "well, I'll just start over" and then I'll go at it for a while, then stop again... and the cycle continues.

Come to think of it I've gotta got play through Xenosaga one of these days, the second and third game are literally sitting there unopened.

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Originally Posted by Kitten Champion

My main issue issue is I play a lot of JRPGs and they're time-demanding even in the NES days. I especially have troubles where I get three-quarters of a way through a game then stop playing it, then a month goes by, then two, and so on and so on. So now I've forgotten most of what I've played to that point and decide "well, I'll just start over" and then I'll go at it for a while, then stop again... and the cycle continues.

Come to think of it I've gotta got play through Xenosaga one of these days, the second and third game are literally sitting there unopened.

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I liked the first and third Xenosaga. Second one... I forced myself through.

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Originally Posted by Kitten Champion

Come to think of it I've gotta got play through Xenosaga one of these days, the second and third game are literally sitting there unopened.

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Just play Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 instead.

It goes back to the gnosticism that Takahashi has dipped into a lot before and both games are actually complete and coherent experiences.

(Generally the expression of theme and mirroring of the philosophies being examined get better with each of his games, Xenoblade is the one that really nails it).

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Originally Posted by Sporeegg

I liked Fallout 4 more than what I saw of New Vegas (don't crucify me!). The backstory got me hooked, the color palette is more colorful (imho post apocalypse doesn't need to be BROWN).

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Only comment I'll make about NV, I promise: what other color do you expect to find in a DESERT? =p

Anywho, I don't pick games based on newness. I choose a game that sounds fun that I own and then play it until I'm done with it. Currently that game is Yakuza 0. I also try (though sometimes fail) to set aside an hour or two each day to play JUST that game, because otherwise I'll play nothing but multiplayer stuff.

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Originally Posted by Sporeegg

For personal reasons I need to get away from the computer (I waste hours on the machine while not even enjoying myself, just perpetually looking at cat pictures) more often, and when I get back I want my gaming time to be concise and in one or two games.

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Somewhat off topic from the main question, but this resonates. I used to spend a lot of time aimlessly browsing Tumblr, despite having many other things I wanted to do, but I never got down to them because I felt I needed have enough time to make it ‘worth it’, and also that I should be using my time for something worthwhile.

What helped me was admitting to myself that I enjoyed browsing Tumblr, and accepting that although it was doing ‘nothing’ it was valuable because of that enjoyment. From there, I was able to stop resenting the time I had previously seen as wasted, which creates bad feeling and makes it difficult to act, and instead considered ‘are there other things that are more fun’. “I’m wasting my time” breeds resentment and becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, “I can maximise my enjoyment” is a goal to aim for.

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Originally Posted by Avaris

Somewhat off topic from the main question, but this resonates. I used to spend a lot of time aimlessly browsing Tumblr, despite having many other things I wanted to do, but I never got down to them because I felt I needed have enough time to make it ‘worth it’, and also that I should be using my time for something worthwhile.

What helped me was admitting to myself that I enjoyed browsing Tumblr, and accepting that although it was doing ‘nothing’ it was valuable because of that enjoyment. From there, I was able to stop resenting the time I had previously seen as wasted, which creates bad feeling and makes it difficult to act, and instead considered ‘are there other things that are more fun’. “I’m wasting my time” breeds resentment and becomes a self fulfilling prophecy, “I can maximise my enjoyment” is a goal to aim for.

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This, this, a thousand times this! I went through the exact same thing and this is how I mostly cope with it.

Winthur and Avaris have already provided some good points. A more practical one might be that the influx of new games will always exceed what you can play in a week. I say this as someone who reads and reviews books. Even if I spent every moment reading through the books I've bought, (which isn't possible, but bear with me) I'd still be far from reading all of them. There's literally too many good books in existence for me to give attention to all of them, so I have to be selective about what I read, even more selective about what I review and choose to share to others. Games aren't so different, in that respect.

There are methods for processing your backlog: identifying some of favourites and seeing which titles in your backlog resonate with said favourites; or looking through games that cater to your current interests, and sorting your backlog appropriately; and so on. Personally though, it helped to make peace with the thought process that drew me to get all these games/books/etc. in the first place. There is a pleasure from collecting and surrounding myself with things I love and admire, even if my interactions with them are minimal, at best. Sometimes I want to pick up a book and rifle through its pages, or just read a stray sentence I opened to at random, without reading any more of it. There's a similar spirit to games. Realistically I won't play every game, and will fall off of many of them for various reasons; but at least I'll always have the chance. And hey, at least I supported the creators by purchasing it, so there's that!

You can't win back the time or money you've spent; but you can change how you think about the time and money you've spent, and find meaning with what's left.

I don't buy as many games and I put more scrutiny into games that I do buy.
That way, there is no backlog.

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Originally Posted by Aspheric

You can't win back the time or money you've spent; but you can change how you think about the time and money you've spent, and find meaning with what's left.

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This is very good advice! Feeling guilt about a backlog makes it difficult to tackle the backlog: you become aware of the sunk cost snd want to get optimum ‘value’ out of it. This leads to spending time on things you don’t enjoy in order to get through the backlog, rather than the thing further down the backlog you’re massively keen for.

Jump the backlog! Play whichever thing most appeals to you at the time! You may never get to some things, but that’s fine: the money is already spent, playing it won’t bring that money back, so instead look at how you want to spend your new currency, time.

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Originally Posted by Rynjin

Only comment I'll make about NV, I promise: what other color do you expect to find in a DESERT? =p

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These ones.

I made a Word (well, OpenOffice because I don't have Word) document with a numbered list of all the games I own (updated whenever I buy something). When I finish a game, I roll the dice on what I'm going to play next.

At least for games that have an ending. I generally play Total War these days, and even if a campaign can have an end, there are always more campaigns to play.

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Originally Posted by Sporeegg

These ones.

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That's the Sahara, the Mojave is a lot more orange-red and brown like it's presented in the game.

Game probably could've done without the pervasive fog over everything though, the colors would have come out much clearer. But draw distance limitations. =/

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Originally Posted by Cespenar

I think a major point would be to remember that gaming is for fun, not for the sake of completion. Our backlog should consist of games that make us go "I can't wait to get home and play this", and not "darn, look at this backlog, how am I going to finish them all?". If this is not the situation at the moment, consider making a new backlog, and screw "having to" play stuff because you paid for it at some point in your life. Wasted hours are more precious than wasted dollars.

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This is solid advice.

Based on the OP's habits and concerns, I'd really recommend just assessing exactly how much free time you have.

When you quantify it (an hour, two hours, four hours, 30 minutes), you will immediately start to consider ways of filling up that time. Do you have time for a strategy game? A story-based RPG? Or maybe you just want to run a couple Overwatch matches before you get busy again?

Because if you just think, "well, I have all this free time, so...I'll just take a look at some cats", you won't make the most of your time. Break your time into chunks, and then deciding what to do with that chunk will come naturally.