One of the best things about living in the digital age is that there are so many great video games available at our fingertips. However, this can also be a curse, as it’s all too easy to let your video game backlog pile up. If you’re not careful, you could end up spending more time playing catch-up than actually enjoying the latest and greatest releases. So the gaming backlog is real. It’s a bane of our existence, and it can make us feel like we’ll never find the time to play all the games we want to play.
Maybe you have a few or more than a few video games that you’ve been meaning to play, but for one reason or another, you just haven’t gotten around to them yet. Maybe they’re from last year’s holiday season and are still sitting in their shrink-wrapped glory on your shelf; maybe you bought them during a Steam sale but then got distracted by something else. Or maybe you’ve just never had the time. Whatever the case, it’s time to finally sit down and get rid of that backlog!
How to Properly Take Care of Your Game Backlog
Getting rid of your video games backlog is important because it can overwhelm you. But there are ways to get past this and be better off for it.
Sell or Trade Them
As you get older, time becomes a much bigger constraint. So you need to make a point of noticing when you’re not enjoying a game. If a game just isn’t grabbing me after a couple of hours, I’ll give it up and count it as a loss. Gamers have different preferences which mean that someone out there might want the games you do not want.
With that said, one of the easiest ways to get rid of your backlog is to simply sell or trade them in. Thankfully, there are a number of places that will buy used games, including GameStop, Amazon, and Best Buy. In addition, you can find people who are looking to trade games on sites like Reddit and Facebook groups.
Create a Priority List of Games
Creating a priority list of the games you own is another way of taking care of your video game backlogs. One method you can do is to list all of your games after that, starting at the top. Next, give each game a score between one and ten, with ten being your level of interest and one representing your lack thereof. Go over the entire list once. Use your instinct to score a game rather than spend time pondering over it.
Apart from that, group your games according to scores, highest to lowest. Then remove from the list any games with a rating of less than seven out of ten. This list of games needs to be much, much shorter. Consider these titles to be your current or priority backlog, and play and finish them first.
Refrain from Buying More Games
It’s crucial to finish the games you already possess before starting new ones, even if I know it’s challenging and you practically want to strangle me through the screen for suggesting it. If there are Steam deals and you can pick up the game you’ve been eyeing for a few dollars, it’s always so alluring. However, buying more games when you aren’t even close to finishing the ones you already own simply makes the gaming mountain bigger.
You must remain resilient and confident that these sales will return at some point, and you will be prepared when they do. You’re only adding to the enormous number of games you’ll want to finish playing till then.
Make Sure that You Have Time to Play without Distractions
When work, school, and other obligations sort of taking over your life, it can be challenging to find time to play games. However, try to think of your game time as a scheduled event, similar to if you were in a sports league or had choir practice. Many of us enjoy playing video games, and we should all make time for our interests. Choose a time each week that works best for you and make a plan. Maybe you’ll play every Tuesday and Thursday after the kids are in bed, or on the weekends on your Steam Deck console after you’re done with work.
Having time to play is useless if you’re overwhelmed with distractions, which is why you should make sure that there are none. For starters, your phone will almost always be there trying to disturb you, whether you’re at work, watching Netflix, or even spending time with friends or family. It also probably gets some of your attention when you’re playing games. So, if you can, try to keep it out of your hands. Maybe plug it in and put it somewhere far from you on a shelf.
Give your whole attention to the game’s characters. Because you were fully present for the session’s happenings, you will probably recall a lot more of its finer nuances when it’s over. Also, try putting your phone in “do not disturb” mode if you’re using it to follow an online tutorial.
Set Small Goals
Set small goals each day as motivation: Instead of trying to accomplish everything at once—such as getting through all 100 levels within an hour—set smaller goals such as “play 20 minutes” or “finish one chapter.” It makes doing things easier by creating smaller milestones along the way. So you won’t feel overwhelmed trying not just at once but throughout each day/week/month etc.
Video Game Backlog is a Serious Problem if Left Unchecked
Know the difference between a video game backlog and a serious problem. A video game backlog is just that; a list of games you want to play but haven’t yet played, or haven’t finished playing. It’s not something that will interfere with your life or relationships if left unchecked. However, it can become frustrating when trying to get certain games off the list because they’re so far down. For example, in terms of completion percentage (or time spent playing).
So leaving these items on the pile isn’t ideal either way (they’re still technically part of your gaming history). But it’s better than having them hanging over your head like weights every day until one day they finally fall off completely.
No Need to Worry About Your Game Backlog
A gaming backlog is a burden for any gamer. But there are ways to get past it! First, you need to make sure that your current games are getting played enough so you’re not overwhelmed by what’s left unplayed. Then, choose one game at a time and focus on beating it before moving on to something else. Finally, try not to beat yourself up over this. Instead, you should enjoy playing video games!
So this wraps our list of things you should do to avoid gaming backlogs. For more guides, you can stay tuned here in PlayPC.
