Managing My Gaming Backlog

This is probably a funny post to be making in May, given that the time for New Year Resolutions was back in January, but this is more of an update to a plan I already laid down. And it seems to be working. Mostly.

Back in January I decided I was tired of looking at my gaming backlog and really wanted to make a point to play a lot of these games I was buying. I participate in the annual Reading Challenge at Goodreads, so I figured, why not make one for my games? Specifically for trying to get through titles I had been wanting to play or finish, but hadn't gotten around to.

So I made a list of five games that I wanted to finish (that I'd already started) and four that I hadn't started at all. I also made them of a variety of genres and moods (dark, light, serious, fluff). I also included a list of new games that I expected I would be buying this year, so I could tally how much was incoming versus outgoing.

After all, it's not making a dent in the backlog if I'm not finishing more than I'm buying.

So far this year I've completed five games. Two were unplanned acquisitions (being free indie titles), one was from my list of games that I expected to buy, and two were from my list of games that I hadn't started.

While the free indie games didn't help reduce my backlog, at least it wasn't me paying for something that was going to sit around unplayed.

What I found most helpful though, is the list of games I hadn't started. I've completed half of that list of four now, and I'm about to start a third game. (I probably won't do the fourth though, because that's Final Fantasy XV and the director has planned out content through 2019 so I'll probably take a rain check until he's done.) I have a lot of backlogged titles though, so I'm thinking of adding a couple more to the list.

Since I haven't gone back to any of the partially completed games there is probably a reason for that and I'm not enthusiastic about revisiting them, even though these are games that I probably would have finished if real life hadn't intervened in some way or another.

I find the list of unplayed games reminds of what I already own and had previously been excited about. Since it's pre-curated, I don't need to spend time figuring out what to play next or staring at shelves of games. Instead I can just look at the list and immediately see a few options I'm already interested in, not an overwhelming number, and pick from there.