Why YOU Should Start a Video Game Backlog

Making a list of 1)total games 2) shortlist of priority games and 3)finished games helps a lot. It's especially satisfying to look at the finished games list once in a while. This year alone, I finished 24 games on the Gamepass catalogue. And yes I consider the gamepass catalogue a source of backlog since I pay for a subscription.

Games that you give up on can go to a different list. It's important to know what games don't appeal to you.

Games I've finished for the first time this year:
Miles Morales
It Takes Two
Far Cry 6
New Super Lucky's Tale
Psychonauts 2
Lil Gator Game
Assassin's Creed: Rogue
Pokemon Let's Go Eevee
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Echoes of Wisdom

Psychonauts 2 came out of nowhere to become one of my favorite games of all time, and some others pleasantly surprised me.

Completely off topic but I didn't like Blasphemous but I loved The Last Faith. I really recommend it

Majora’s Mask rushing you? You have a Time Machine (ocarina). You have all the time in the world.

backlog playlist

backlog = work
playlist = entertainment

Backlog just happen, you don't have to plan it. Just buy games on sale like me, I probably have over 10 games I haven't even touched, and I can't even remember which ones they are. And that was when I just had Xbox, now I have switch and ps5 backlog, and then on my Bday I'm getting VR. But ever so often I see a video like your and reminds me to play my games, like I'm going to try Red Dead redemption 2 Again..

I’ve become such a backlog gamer the past couple years. It started when I got into indie games and wanted to play a bunch like Hollow Knight, Hades, Shovel Knight, Hyper Light Drifter, Dead Cells, etc.

Then I got into retro gaming with a Miyoo Mini Plus which has been great to relive my childhood of playing GBA and Nintendo DS classics as well as experience a bunch of Super Nintendo classics that were before my time. Super Metroid is the GOAT! Chrono Trigger, Link to the Past, and Super Mario World are all phenomenal.

Now I’m still playing on my Miyoo Mini Plus, but I also got emulators set up on my computer so ive gone full blown into GameCube, N64, and PS2 games. Needless to say my backlog has gotten big, but I’ve also experienced SO MANY amazing games the past couple years. Metroid has become one of my favorite franchises of ALL TIME. Prime 1 and 2 were both incredible and so immersive.

Embrace the backlog! It’s basically inevitable with how many games are available to us these days unless you’re someone that just plays COD and Fortnite 😂

I mean practically none of the games I play are younger than 5 years old (more mostl of the times)

About games you don’t enjoy I would also add that you could always come back to it in another month or even year. Sometimes you just need a break from it, it wasn’t made for you, or it just isn’t your time to play it. There’s so many games I didn’t enjoy at first to then become one of my favorite games of all time later on

I've been holding off on Persona 5 because at a first sight it just looks like some cringe weeb game, which I'm generally just not into, I don't even watch anime. But after playing it, I now consider it as probably one of my top 10 games ever.

Finished 5 games in a month and started playing 5 others. Decided they weren't for me and so I'm done with those too.

A friend of mine came up with a simple, yet excellent idea: call it a "collection" instead of a "backlog". That's how I see it. I have a game COLLECTION, not a backlog. This collection is pure joy for me, basically because it provides me with infinite choice of entertainment! When I want to play something new, I ALREADY HAVE LOTS OF OPTIONS, and I just have to choose a game, redownload it and start playing it right away. Not only that, but, also, I love the feeling I get by simply LOOKING at my huge collection (around 780 Nintendo Switch games). I still absolutely take my time with my games, enjoy them fully, because I don't see it as an obligation to finish what I've bought just to see "the return of my investment". To me, just HAVING THE COLLECTION, just knowing it's there for me, is pleasure in itself. Looking at my games, ordering them, categorizing them, reviewing the ones I've finished (or the ones I've abandoned), etc.

Seriously, try calling it a COLLECTION, instead of a backlog, and try enjoying each game fully (without watching TV or listening to podcasts at the same time), at your own pace. Only think about your collection again when you've finished your current game and have to choose the next one. You'll see how good gaming is!

In hindsight this year isn’t bad. Shaping up to be a very good year for releases

Funny thing is I think the biggest two lessons I got from a backlog was how to spend less on more games I actually want and also like realising that backlogs kinda suck in every way for me personally.

It’s both a blessing and a curse. I love having games that I haven’t played and can look forward too, but it’s also really stressful to feel like I’ll never get to them all. A lot of those games are digital copies on systems with offline stores (Wii U and 3ds) and I worry about those consoles dying somehow before I get the chance to play them all. Which is one of the biggest reasons why I’m a physical media fan.

Putting down games off the backlog that I didn’t like has been essential to me enjoying it. Like, I’m sure Mario 3 and World are great games, but I just don’t like playing them that much, so I stopped

Between free prime games, a huge steam library, the free epic games, and older consoles I've kinda made peace with the idea I'll never finish my backlog.

I look through it if I feel like playing something, install games that appeal to me to remind myself they exist.

But I stopped stressing about it. I see it as a luxury position where Ive got a big library to choose from

weird. I find 2023 the worst in gaming and 2024 the best gaming has been in a long time

I’ve become more open to the idea of a backlog in recent times. The thought of having a collection of already purchased games to choose from at any time is an appealing prospect. I just didn’t like how many other people seem to approach the concept, a lot of the time.

For one, I think many focus more on quantity over quality when it comes to their backlogs. This notion of people buying games in bulk simply because they’re really cheap on a Steam sale, or because they’re a part of a deal like Humble Bundle packages, and using the argument of, “Well I might play it some day.” That sort of stuff is extremely prevalent and never sat right with me. I feel like you ought to curate your backlog and pick stuff that’s really worth giving a go at, rather than buying up everything under the Sun in order to have as much choices as possible.

If I were to build a backlog for myself, I’d want it to be large but not unmanageable - like a couple dozen games, give or take, where you’re very familiar with every game that’s in it, but aren’t stuck with too few choices - and keep it varied in terms of genre. Instead of having like 20 RPGs and a couple other games in other genres, I’d prefer it to be 1-2 RPGs, and then maybe 1-2 platformers, 1-2 strategy games, 1-2 roguelites, and so on. I think it’s much easier to engage with your backlog this way, because you won’t find yourself thinking, “Well I don’t feel like playing a fourth RPG this summer, so I don’t really have much else to pick from.”, and proceeding to then stop playing your library or going and buying even more games for it.

I am going to finally get a new PC, this year, and for the first time I won’t be restricted in what I’m able to play due to hardware limitations, so I might be able to put together a backlog for a change. I’ve got some things on my wishlist to consider.

Imo, if you aren't liking a game take it off the backlog and move on to the next. It keeps the backlog productive and allows you to enjoy it again.

I buy more games than I play them, that's my issue.

My backlog ALWAYS stresses me out because I play a nice game when I see the nice game! BUT some of my backlog games that've already failed the test may happen to be and happen to become REALLY COOL! Like the Hollow Knight did! It was mid first, than I lost my hope to see something interesting when the setting about bugs started to disgust me, but after a couple of years I decided to give the game one more chance, and I didn't regret it.

The gaming industry just comes out with too many 10/10 games lately. I mean FF7 Rebirth, Dragons Dogma 2, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Stellar Blade, The Plucky Squire, Metal Gear Solid Delta, Metaphor:Refantazio, Starwars Outlaw, Ys X, and maybe Titan Quest 2. We are in a golden age for video games.

I generally try to beat a backlog to save money lol

When I found the Trails series after being recommended for a Suikoden fan I thought I found my messianic IP.. Thing is I played so many hours of them even I got a little burnt out.. The new trend is jumping from game to game & style to style.. Thing is while fun as hell nuttin ever gets finished! My favorite game ever is still Civilization but I played soo much of it when I was younger it’s difficult to go back to especially if you don’t have a lot of time on your hands..

Funny how i wasn’t crazy about God of War 4 initially but still settled with it because I was an OG fan.. And, ultimately it grew on me! Now play it most every Saturday like I did with the older installments.. And even those took time.. First time I played the original I put it down because i couldn’t get the QuickTime events down

as someone that has over 9,000 games i am ok with not buying any more game until 2050.

I think a perspective altering revision to your definition of the backlog would be that the backlog isn't a to do list but rather a bucket list. There are those who constantly worry about their backlog as if it were a to do list and those that critique backlogs for turning a hobby into a chore and I think that subtle difference really separates healthy backlogs from unhealthy ones. For me, there's really no rush to get to games on the backlog besides how much I just want to play them, there is no obligation there. I don't feel guilty cause it's a bucket list, ill get to it when I get to it, and if I dont ever get to it then clearly it wasn't something I wanted that much and I'm fine with that. I add games to the backlog that I think I'll like given what I normally like or intentionally to broaden my horizons, but usually within the confines of something I still find interesting.

I was excited for when I got to Blasphemous in my backlog… I didn’t like Blasphemous

"This year is going to be bad" We got Infinite Wealth, Grandblue Fantasy Relink, Persona 3 Reload, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Unicorn Overlord in the first three months

I loved Blasphemous, really enjoyed that one, actually thinking of replaying it soon to try and get trophies on the playstation version.

Weird comment I know but I like your voice.

Just picked out my next 10 games to play through. Thanks man!

Maybe mediocre for you, lots of great jrpgs coming out

Lol 2024 Kicking off Strong as hell xD

We're getting No Rest for the Wicked, an Action RPG by Moon Studios. Looks amazing.

Hollow knights never gonna be knocked off my top spot.(unless Silksong ever comes out)

So whats looking bad so far? Palworld, Helldivers 2, FF7 Rebirth, Dragons Dogma 2, Eldin ring dlc, Persona 3 Reload. But I guess all games are shit to the mighty gta 6 that all we know about it is they made a pretty video with it.

Oh boy, unless you hate Zelda games, I 100% recommend that you start Majora's Mask, sure, it has a time limit that gives a sense of urgency, specially in the first 3 day cycle (kind of an extended tutorial) but once you get the ocarina back, you can play the song of time backwards to slow time a lot. After that, it turns into a big puzzle where space and time are the pieces, and you can calmly study NPC behavior, experiment, go back, try other things etc.

Hope I have convinced you. Now I will play Castlevania SotN as you instructed. As... soon as I finish pokemon red...

Why I need to actually get something done in mine.

Hollow knight was what started my obsession with playing games on my backlog

Counter argument: what if my wallet cry’s when i have to spend a penny?

I don't think I could have a backlog just because I like finishing a game at 100% all trophies and stuff and my backlist wiuld be enormous without any signs of progress. Money is also part of the problem as I don't really want to spend money on a game that I probably won't be playing after at least 1 year

What if you’ve beat all the games you own

This video is really interesting to me because it's given me a new perspective on how to view my catalog of unplayed games. I recently just got a ton of games last year for Christmas, and this might be what I need to get through them.

Backlogs are nice because you don’t ever get to a point where you just don’t have a game to play. It feels terrible to not have anything to play that you haven’t already played imo

My friend, it was the same way for me when I first played blasphemous. Game was (at the time ) confusing, kind of disgusting and not really that interesting to be honest. But once I did the real ending, waited patiently for part 2 and tried it I can honestly say that I was mind blown. It was kinda hard but it had everything that made the part 1 good to a whole another level, while leaving out the things that were bad in the first game. Honestly, my metroidvania of 2023.

I’ve been working on my backlog lately and have been experimenting with many different games I never would’ve even considered before that I love now. I’m now loving horror games and before almost all I played was platformers and games with great stories. I’m really looking forward to trying to finish my backlog.

I don't really have a backlog, but i do know some games that i really want to play. Undertale was one of those and now it's one of my favorite games ever

Great video and great point. I have like 30 games I’ve bought and need to finish… hopefully one day I will haha

Try Risk of Rain 2







Ahoy!