How to approach a very large backlog- what are your strategies?

[Texan Penguin]

I've tried several times to finish my backlog. I'm sitting at 530 titles, but I'm actually adding 70 to make it an even 600- yes, I know I'm crazy but the expansion list includes stuff like Cyberpunk 2077 and Borderlands 3 I forgot to include before.

With a fresh attempt at it, I want to make it a little more exciting, though. My new approach for this is what I call "draw and shuffle". For the "draw" part, I use Backloggery's Fortune Cookie and select 20 games from the whole list. For "shuffle" I go back to Fortune Cookie but I switch to the "Now Playing" tab, drawing again but this time to determine play order. Titles are played one at a time- it helps with speed to have a laser-focus on one particular title. For variety's sake, though, anything not on the list is exempt, like Destiny 2 or FFXIV. Or Diablo since S18 is starting.

The expanded list will have 30 blocks of 20 titles. I find that splitting it into blocks makes it feel less chaotic. I also enjoy the random nature of it- mulligans are allowed to prevent series overlap in a block and in the event I don't actually own a game yet or it's a future release.

It seems neurotic but it helps me. How do you manage a big backlog, personally?

Edit: My Backloggery: https://backloggery.com/penguin_zeppelin

[OnlineSamantha]

At the start of this year I had almost 800 games in my backlog as well as 1100+ comics. Now I'm down to 727 games and 229 comic books. My way of approaching each is a little different. For games, I install somewhere around 50 games and then pick as if I only own those 50. That helps me narrow it down and it also helps the analysis paralysis. It still affords me choices though, so if I find a game particularly boring then I don't have to force myself through it here and now. For comics I try to get done with a particular letter before moving on to the next as a way of setting mini goals for myself that I know I can hit.

[Tech614]

I don't. I usually don't purchase a game unless I intend to play it right away, and for the rare situations that I do that it's usually just something I want for the collection and not something I ever feel I need to get around to playing.

[breadisfunny]

just do it.

[Temp name]

I don't really buy games I don't plan on playing straight away, but I do have a shit ton of TV and anime I haven't watched yet.. For which my plan is to just find something that sounds nice right now and go with that. If you have to download anything, download 5-10 games and pick whichever sounds more fun when you're done.

[ParanoiD84]

Not buying games i wont play no matter how cheap they are.

Though I am guilty of it in the past.

[Acidbaron]

I create a list of games that are "short to finish", actually creating this as a game tag and i add a bunch of games to that.

Using this site,https://howlongtobeat.com

This site gives you an idea how long it takes to beat the main game and how long it takes to be it completely meaning all steam achievements. It also highlights multiplayer only games, it isn't 100% without its issues but it gives you a good start if your intended on finishing some game.

As written above i also don't browse further than those i have installed and beyond humble bundle monthly i don't buy any other game.

[Unholyground]

I stopped buying games I am never going to get to play, it was pretty simple lol.

[TaurenNinja]

Random tips:

1. Only buy new games that are kind of "must buy" for you, skip all the "nice to haves" (be especially careful about this on sale events)

2. Don't stress yourself about finishing the games, if you lose interest at least twice in a game during your playthrough you probably don't like it that much even though you might feel you have to finish it because it's considered a classic or whatever. Losing interest once can happen though (at least it happened to me sometimes, but then I came back and it was a blast again).

3. For older games, check out the modding scene. Some don't recommend playing with mods for the very first time, but I disagree. Some games are really annoying without mods (for example, Morrowind through Skyrim are much better with some UI, graphics and immersion-enhancing mods, but it takes some time to get a working mod setup). For some other games also really good mods or conversions exist, for example if you want to play Half-Life 1 these days, don't do it, play Black Mesa instead. At the very least, there's often some hi-res texture packs or something available. Or inofficial bugfixes (and bugfixes are important)

[Rustedsaint]

Buy more games
But for realizy, sort them by how much you want to play them and why you want to play them.
I’m guessing the majority of them are filler games from bundles from steam, so you can probably ignore the majority

[Texan Penguin]

Buy more games
But for realizy, sort them by how much you want to play them and why you want to play them.
I’m guessing the majority of them are filler games from bundles from steam, so you can probably ignore the majority

Surprisingly, my Steam collection is probably tiny or at most average compared to most people's. It's around 175 games, and not all of them are on my Backloggery or are unused. A lot of the PC titles on my list are from the Origin Access vault or Xbox Game Pass, and a few are from uPlay.

[Halicia]

Stop buying more games. I know it sounds stupid and people have said it already.... but the thing is...

Good games will still be there when you're done playing your current games, and the price will only go down.

Time also allows the cream to rise to the top, while the trash sinks to the bottom once actual player reviews come out, and the shills aren't the only opinion.

[Texan Penguin]

I know. I’ll still need to buy a few but if it isn’t on the list I am not getting it, with the exception of Shadowkeep for D2. Even then I’m waiting since I’m only on Titan for the Red War campaign.

It’s going to take at least two to three years, maybe more depending on how my schedule is. But I intend to complete all 600 titles.

[Jazzhands]

Surprisingly, my Steam collection is probably tiny or at most average compared to most people's. It's around 175 games, and not all of them are on my Backloggery or are unused. A lot of the PC titles on my list are from the Origin Access vault or Xbox Game Pass, and a few are from uPlay.

My Steam collection consists of 35 games. I've had my Steam account for like, 12 years?

[Mister Cheese]

Stop buying games you're not planning on playing for one. I have maybe... 15 games on steam I've bought for cheap I haven't played on steam? I don't get how people have hundreds...

[endersblade]

Stop buying games you're not planning on playing for one. I have maybe... 15 games on steam I've bought for cheap I haven't played on steam? I don't get how people have hundreds...

And I'm constantly buying more lol.

[Temp name]

Stop buying games you're not planning on playing for one. I have maybe... 15 games on steam I've bought for cheap I haven't played on steam? I don't get how people have hundreds...

I got most of my unused ones through bundle sites where I only wanted 1 or 2 games, and just activated the others.

[iosdeveloper]

imagine people discussing their life goals backlog?

[Pony Soldier]

Well I try to look back at the game I got before any recent purchase and play those first. I like to have an "old before new" type of system going. If I can manage to do that I focus on one game at a time. Sometimes I'll do two if the second game is a simple type of game that requires little attention but I never play two or more story driven games as it gets too confusing trying to remember what is going on in both games.

Sometimes though I'll get a new game that I really wanted to play and that's when I'll make an exception.

Buying games you're not going to play right away is not a smart or healthy thing to do but as a collector who missed out on many games I can't help but have the mentality of buy it now so that I'll at least have the game in my hands and I can play it later.

[yasiru]

Honestly, if you are sitting at a backlog of 500-1000 games, no matter what strategy you use you'll never finish them, especially as new games come out over time.