How To Clear Your Gaming Backlog | Top Tips From Finishing 250 Games and Clearing My Backlog 

If playing becomes a second job and you're not having fun, just stop. You don't NEED to complete your backlog. Just play the games you want and that makes you have fun.

My adhd keeps me from finishing a lot of my backlogged games and yeah it’s way harder to jump back into a bunch of half started games months later. I’m going to start using some of your suggestions, hopefully I’ll be able to finally finish more!

I made an excel sheet where I have my backlog. I wrote down the average playtime per game and sorted it from short to long. This way I can finish many games that aren't that long first and work my way through to the big ones. It also calculates me how long I will need to finish each game based on my average play time per day. Currently I would be done in March 2024. But when I include all the games I haven't bought yet but I want to play I would be done in January 2027. And in this time so many new games will come :D

Backlogs are a blessing and a curse indeed.. on one hand having all these different games to play & having so many options how to play is pure bliss but on the other can be too overwhelming leaving you in a weird state where you have such as vast amount of games to play but can never decide what to focus on and complete.. Thats why for every game i complete i get a sense of pride and accomplishment.. 🔥

The main problem with me is that i consider every game backlogged as long is i didn't get 100% achievements

Like any form of media (books, tv, movies, games) you don't have to consume all of them but just enjoy what you want to enjoy at your pace 😁

Wow! I'm not the only person struggling with this? Even just that fact gives me motivation. Great vid, thanks.

Really liked how this video was structured, it flows really well whilst still packing in a ton of info and advice

This is great. I fell behind on my aging over the last two years with school and working two jobs and I’m finally able to start tackling that backlog again. Very helpful video.

Very good video. This tips are gold to me, because my Backlog keeps on growing. Now I absolutely know what to do. Thank you so much. Keep it up.

This is an amazing video! Can’t wait to see what else u produce in the future!

The Return of the King 😍😍😍 But thanks a ton for this vid, needed the push to work through my collection and 100% a few titles that were collecting dust

Basing my games around choosing which platinum I want next has really helped me to narrow down which game I play next. It incorporates a lot of these tips with keeping up variety.

Really help me at some points, I bought Darkwood because it was cheap a friend said it was good but i never open the game, now after finishing ghost of tsushima i will folow the tips and enjoy. Nice video man!

This is a really awesome video. Seriously motivating and reminds me why I love gaming. Take care and gg 😊❤

It took me 3 10 hour playthroughs of Xenoblade Chronicles to figure out it just wasn't for me... until I played the Definitive Edition where everything just clicked and now that series is one of my favorites

holy.... you're back!

This might be my favorite backlog video. Very concise and actionable advice. Something I’ve used to help with my backlog is serendipity. Something I think you somewhat touched on in the part about looking at a trailer or review to remember why you were interested in a game. What I mean by serendipity is let the games come to you. Have the backlog but try to let motivation and interest come to you. Because sometimes actively seeking something can make it feel like a chore. Which leads you to dislike things you actually might like.

Appreciate u man im a busy guy so this is really cool. All love and i hope u blow up❤

Dude WTF this video is amazing, thank you so much !

I was drawn in by the many, many games on your backlog that are also on mine, but I'm really glad you (unlike other videos on this topic I've watched) addressed the problem of half-finished games. I have 20 hours in Witcher I, but drifted away because it got a bit dull, and it's stopping me moving on to the other two (much better from everything I hear) in the series. So I'm deleting it and moving on. Then I got stuck at one point in the middle of Rise of the Tomb Raider, went off and played some other stuff, and now can't face going back because it's been months and I almost feel like I'd have to start again, and would certainly have to learn it again. But I did enjoy the first half, so maybe that one goes to the bottom of the queue. First, though, I do need to stop (or at least ration) playing the endless games. They're really the culprit here.

What helped me platinum/ 100% achievement 350 games is " i wont buy new games until i platinum this games" mindset but having tons of free time and less responsibilities back then definitely help more

Great video!

I gave up live service games and my whole world opened up to play tons of incredible experiences

Thanks. I needed that. I was beginning to think I am just a collector.

LMAO you read my mind about Elden Ring that was great. Really nice video, I just happened to decide to commit to my backlog today (rather than just doing more runs of Slay the spire)

Appreciate this video. I got back into gaming this year after over 10 years without playing much at all. Of course I'm happy and excited and I'm buying a bunch of classics and new ones.. going all out. I do that with most hobbies. I like this. More please lol I've only put a small dent in my wishlist and I'm already thinking. I already have more than I can play/finish. Trying to manage it, play'em not go overboard and have a bunch of fun.. I'm only hearing words like backlog, 100 % completion, and all that jazz in 2023. I don't even know what online gaming is like at all! LOL The one thing I think I can really agree on is if the game doesn't grab you just move on. Life is too short to play mid games. Also there's no competition or race to complete games. Even if you hop around. Having fun? who cares! :) Some games like racing and sports etc doesn't really have endings anyway.

amazing video i really enjoyed and helped my a lot with my confused mind HAHAH

Great video. It’s easy to get sucked into side content and get burnt out myself. It really is hard to resist going down the dead end with a breakable barrel.

Great video, definetlly helped :)

i'm just starting to clear my backlog, and my initial tips to add would be: you can be hyped by new releases, but don't go actively looking through steam store/xbox store/ps store etc, even if there's a sale. On that note i would recommend limiting how many new games you allow yourself to buy in 6/12 month period, as it prompts you to ask yourself, "but is this game worth one of my [limited] slots?" And if your platform allows it, use the library sorting feature! I personally use: Highest Priority, High Priority, Mehh Priority, Low Priority, and As Good As Done (plus adding a completed list) great video too btw!! 👍

great video, you're incredibly underrated

Personally I help myself by thinking of my wishlist as my backlog, so I only have purchased the games I'm playing, have played or will play soon. This way it also helps me prevent overspending and at least I feel that it helps me finish more games. (though I'm a completionist, so I should try to follow your advice of not going for 100% I everything 😅)

Great Video, after 8 years on Steam, i collected over 1.6k games and only played 59 games over 12 hours. I made an Account in Backlog and sorted every games i already finished and games i stopped played, even did some reviews on some of them. Tonight im gonna finally start either with Dead Space, Last of us or Remnant 2!

A great tip to add to this list. Do "make a note", before taking a longer break. write down what you are about to do, what you are saving up for (if you are in the middle of grinding), the controlles and maybe even what you just did. It will make coming back to the game a lot less painful. I did it when I needed a break from Ookami. You draw your attack, so I wrote down how to access the drawing screne and what attack I could do and how to draw them. When I came back, I could just get right back into it.

I’ve officially renounced any interest in live services so that helps. Though I’m in a very big conundrum because I’m attempting to review Cyberpunk 2077 and it’s a nightmare to sift through my footage to find what I need for the review I’ve already voiced. So aggravating I’ve put it off to play some other games that crossed my path these past few weeks. Hopefully after I get it done I can conquer the smaller games in my backlog that are easier to play and review in a timely fashion.

I think one thing I've started doing is letting myself make use of more "cheap" tactics or lower difficulties to get through it and see the end of the plot, sure it hurts the "gamer pride" a bit, but I have a job now and there's less time to waste on grinding on a jrpg

3:20 section is how I feel about the entire dark souls series + elden ring and sekiro

That was pretty good advice. Personally I'm learning how to not try to keep up with the mass producing industry that gaming has become, because that is literally impossible. I'm trying to find my own pace on the treadmill of games, instead of keeping up with one that I know I will fall off pretty quickly. It's not easy, because indeed hype is a thing, (such as Mario RPG *internal screaming*) but I think once the realization sets in knowing that games are still there even when we're playing other games it might become easier on the backlog and ourselves.

I like to start a bunch at once, then decide which I feel like continuing each day. Some will click with me to fully play it all, others can click a lot later. I also determine "completion" differently for each game, for example: in Elden Ring it's all 238 bosses, but in Zelda BOTW, it's just all main/side/shrine quest (because NO, I will NOT photograph every weapon for my Sheikah Slate). I play a lot of Switch games and I use the new grouping system for "Incomplete", "Complete", and "Need To Buy DLC." I try to keep the attempted games at around 30, I don't want 100 incomplete games at once.

What has worked for me in getting through my backlog is to let go of the games I have no interest in ever playing. Those are usually tiny Indy games or mobile style games that I picked up for $1-3. That’s a solid 25% of my backlog. Then I play 2-3 short games (under 10 hrs) for every 1 longer game. I also aim to complete 35-50 games a year. Helps to keep on task for getting them played.

I saw the thumbnail and was worried this would be a super rushed and generic AI voice video - I’m so happy I gave it a chance. Wonderful video and ideas and editing. I’m sorry there’s nothing wrong with the thumbnail that was just a mindless judgement lol

Ok, I had something to comment but as soon as I saw the list with Elden Ring, I thought "someone is going to get triggered by this". Then you said exactly what I was thinking. That's a perfect script there, sir. Well done!

I have quite the backlog myself and I know there are some games I know I can't finish. New can be scary but I may want to wrap up a few games I'm close to finishing. Yeah, after this season quite a few games are gonna jump the line. But can still make time to try a few games at once. I may not always 100% all of them I'm not like that, but one I might platinum. Then not too small a list just too keep the variety still there.

The abandoning part is critical. If you can overcome the feeling of money wasted you are good to go. It's actually a good idea to keep a list of th abandoned games. It has helped me to understand I should not get hyped by a game in a genre with several games I abandoned before. Wasting money sucks, but wasting life is infinitely worse. I guess the older one gets this becomes increasingly more obvious.

If I stop buying new games now and with my backlog checked and available game time checked, I should make it through around 2030.

My backlog is massive, and recently I just finished GTA V and Tomb Raider 2013, currently at the moment playing through Spider-Man 2 and Pokémon Omega Ruby. After Spider-Man I'm probably going to finish Ruby and then go on to Tomb Raider Rise or a Switch game. I tend to choose action and adventure, then an FPS or something short that can be beaten within about a day to break up the monotony of action adventure and RPG. After my FPS is an RPG. Also what I usually do lately over the past year is choose a game that I want to buy and take $10 a week stash it up and then go buy it. That gives me roughly six to seven weeks to finish a game or games before I purchase one that I'm planning on playing through fully such as Spider-Man.

Man I have the exact same problem as you had. The problem for me is that I open up Steam and see like 50 uncompleted games, get's overwhelmed, boots up League of Legends or RU-vid and then feels bad for not completing games. The thing is that I get the dumb feeling of feeling lonely while playing single-player games, the games story, characters and everything else could be awesome but deep down I know that I'm sitting here alone and that I could instead study, call a friend or do something else. I love gaming, I really do but very often single-player games feels like I'm wasting my time (even though it could be like 9PM and my work for the day is already done). Even after all this I still buy single-player games just to let them sit in my library for some reason, like I bought Witcher 3 in 2020 but haven't installed it ones yet and I feel stupid for it.

Nice vid! What tool is that you showed in the video of lists of your completed games?

Great topic to make a video on as I suffer from same problem and it caught my attention, I noticed that I have not played a single game you have shown in your video. Turns out the its the type of games I play, they dont really have an end and have large replay value vs games that you can beat in under 20 hrs, thats the majority of my backlog. 7 days to die 500hrs, CK3 501hrs, dyson sphere program 70, factorio 400, kerbal space program 1 900+ hrs, flight simulator 1000 hrs+, oxygen not included 500hrs, rim world 1000hrs, satisfatory 400+hrs, civilization 5, 700hrs. Like im to lazy to play a 20 hr game lol gimme something worth my time. great video, really made me look at my backlog and analyze my situation vs yours. cheers.

sometimes it can be hard to get into a game as well, im someone who basically forces themself to play the first in the series before the next and right now im playing The Witcher 1. I'm finallly starting to have fun after around 15 hours in the game, the amount of things you need to keep track of made it very difficult to come back to the game after I left 9 hours in due to the extremely janky outdated combat system. But my point it sometimes its worth just pushing through the game until you get used to all the menus and weird combat to get to the good parts, it feels more rewarding than playing a game which is simple and instantly fun.

This motivated me to get back to working on that backlog. Curious about what website you use to log completed games?

I just beat breath of the wild and did all 120 shrines and now I'm jumping right into tears of the Kingdom finally after like two months I can finally enjoy the height of Tears of the Kingdom I was playing Resident Evil and Mortal Kombat as a side game for breaks of breath of the Wild

I try to have one "comfort game" (e.g. Binding of Isaac, Vampire Survivors, Heroes of the Storm) and one "Progress game" (e.g. Control, Yakuza, Days Gone). That way if I'm exhausted or have less than 30 minutes, I can just launch my comfort game. If I have some time and feel for it, I'll launch a progress game. And be critical as to when to cross games off the backlog list instead of keeping them.

I feel like the only thing holding me back from my backlog is ARK, MW3 zombies and occasionally destiny 2 with my wife. I cherish that time thatbwe are able to connect and just my procrastinatuon of a big list and constantly put off games that i really want to play just because of that routine we have in the evenings.

I've been trying to work through my backlog since the beginning of 2023. I've finished about 20 games so far but still have like 200 to go

Goal is to finish 2-3 games per month, it allows me to balance gaming, working, and living life outside / hanging out w/ friends 👌

I have similar issues with some other hobbies like anime and sometimes I see a great movie that looks good and may want to watch but never do it. Games was because I had a potato pc I coudn't play the games I bought before , now I have a good pc ( but a gaming laptop and I'm new to using laptops ) . But My games are like Avatar from 2009 , and I also want to play new free games to test my pc , but also my mind hovers to my comfort zone like prince of persia , or warcraft 3 . I do wanted to play the games I bought , but it's much easier to play games like Warcraft 3 or Magic The Gathering , or just start a online game for me. I did start playing some games but I can't maintain too much attention either. I had anxiety before in past years where due to relationship I constantly check my phone during game so It's affecting me till now a bit , so more than 3hrs of gameplay feels like isolation for me. Just 1 hr break and socials and etc , and back for more. In past , 7 years ago I did 12hrs straight on games like torchlight 2 ( it was not a demanding game with my gt210 ) . Now at age 21 if I play a game for 12 hrs I'd not be able to , due to work , anxiety and some other issues. I love RPG games a lot ! but they're most anxious game to me because they can take a long time. I want to emerse in games , often leading to playing lot long but also same time worry about other stuff. I have similar issues with anime where I started watching 1.5 and 1.75 for One piece and same for youtube , 2x sometimes + some jumps . In comics also I sometimes just read summary , only worthy ones read full . To be honest I want to spend a lot of quality times with all of my hobbies , my self , my friends and family , but you can't do everything. Something must go. As I grow older , I know time is just hard to get . I also have a bad habit of trying a lot hard , so in games like warcraft , dota , starcraft , magic , I play multiple times , almost 1 game for long time to improve , see videos , write my self experience and even read guides and test them all. That also waste a lot of time. I still remember failing 30 games in a row and quitting starcraft 2 crying. Ever since then I have improved my ways of training to games + taken loss in positive way , but also I called myself loser often and I no longer like being called gamer . I just play games but I don't like that title , specially with the starcraft 2 thing where I lost that way. I lost 30 games due to lots of simple stuff like social anxiety , panicking or not checking replays and improving so I just want to not associate myself with the " gamer " thing. I still like competitive games but I'm afraid of trying to get good again in most games I'd like to. Dota 2 is on my mind but I wonder. These games just can be played on fun , basic knowledge and no need hard core practise but sometimes my old habit can kick in. aside from the hardcore habit of getting good at most games , there aren't many things inside gaming that waste my time except just roaming around in games and trying stuff to find easter eggs and new stuff and things,. Some games have hidden stuff. To me gaming is my first hobby but not calling myself gamer frees myself from stress that I have to be good at it. I also don't like others to know I love games a lot. most people know me as artists or some weeb. ( which I'm also not a weeb since I just watch anime but not too deep into cultures and community , I also like Dub sometimes because it's easier to switch between Anime and TV which are both english [ if anime is dub ] but some are best sub.) Video Games are for all types of people . I'm a nerd who come from being a science lover so I always like strategy games and like to improve a lot on those . But I also do want to play more and get out of being stale . I suck at shooters I think but I haven't tried them , I just thought I'd suck at them since I'm only good at nerdy games. Games are for fun , and I want to find the balance between fun and what makes games slightly hard so that it feels more like a good achievement but also want to experiment and research on how each genre can teach us more than fun. Like how RTS helps in management behaviours or how I was thinking if racing games will do any good on road searching while driving things , and specially simulation games giving us virtual work to do and some demo of what that would be if done irl . I do need to mention I overthink a lot , no doubt my comment is long. I'm sure when I will be playing one game , I will think about something else in my mind time to time. Hopefully I will get over it / control it.

The only sad thing is RPGs is my favourite genre in gaming but as i have grown up and got a job i just dont have time for 100+ hr games. I usually only complete 1 or atmost 2 rpgs a year(ones i desperately want to play) but i would like to try so many more especially jrpg's but i just dont have the time and i have learned to live with it

Thanks

I just made a choice to start going through my backlog alphabetically. I'm not playing everything in my library, but just scrolling it alphabetically and picking the first game I see that I actually really want to play. Can't tell how well it's gonna work yet because I'm still on the first game, Alan Wake, but I'm enjoying it

I wonder...what about old games or games that you can't "complete" in a modern way. Many older games just have a high score system. what even means finishing a game? Do everything in it or just do a part of it until you finished that "part"? I know there questions are dumb but they kinda hold me back from switching my games from "played" to "completed"

We rate games differently a 7 out of 10 game is a great game by my standards.

The idea of 'I've sunk $$$ into this game so I should get my money's worth' even if you're not that into it is the Sunk Cost Fallacy - i.e. the money you spent is gone no matter what you do, so there is no point in factoring it in. With new games, I agree it's totally fine to play something shiny and new over something that's been sitting on your list for a while. However 'shiny and new' can just mean you personally only just bought it, not necessarily that the game is only just released. Personally I've adopted the principle of never buying anything unless it's on sale (even if only by a little bit) and that means always waiting at least a short while. But also games always get patched and it's worth waiting a bit for at least the most major bugs to be ironed out. Ultimately, though, as someone who has actually at times cleared backlogs of things, while I totally relate to that itch to clear out a list, it's not anywhere near as satisfying as you might think to actually do it. I think the perfect balance is to have a manageable list of games to play that you can comfortably work through and rotate at a manageable rate.

Just finished xenoblade 3 after 184hrs and paused to another games. Still working through my backlog on huge 3 consoles libraries..

Man, I'v had the itch to replay a few games but I also want to play some new games on my backlog as well, but I also want to upgrade my monitor before playing certain games, but I unfortunately lost my job, so its all tricky right now lol

The reason for my backlog is 1- i play multiplayer games and most of my time goes in there even though iv stopped playing them for a week now. Just got bored. 2- after coming back from work i just feel so tired that id rather just sit back and watch something but the thing is i do wanna play the games i bought and i just dont know what to do. Maybe ill start by uninstalling the multiplayer games since i dont enjoy them much anymore and forcing myself to start up a game after coming back from work. And since i would have no more multiplayer games i would have to play singleplayer games. Idk if this will work but ill post an update after a month. Ill save this video in my watch later.

I stopped playing gollum bc the controls & glitchs were fun killers for me.

Biggest realization I’ve had with games recently: if you’re not having fun, don’t play it. You can always revisit it later or refund, but don’t force yourself to like a game just because you bought it

I literally have more than 200 games in my backlog and just bought 34 new games from steam summer sales and a fun fact I haven't played the games I bought last year's summer sale ( all rpg games)

is that a website you can link for reviewing games after you are done

I have all the time in the world and like less than 15 story mode games, but I, for the life of me cannot finish a damn game. I play like halfway absolutely loving it, then decide to dabble a little bit in another game and never go back to the last game for a while

I have this chronic problem of installing a game in my backlog and the next thing I know is I'm in Whiterun

Best tip is to stick to one big game and a smaller completely different game when you need a break or different play style.

I have over 500 games, and I need to clear them.

What site do you use to rank/review your games? I've been looking for something like a letterboxd for gaming for awhile, seems similar.

There is this one game, I'm trying to tackle every year, Darksiders 2. It's just not good. D1 was nice, the 2nd feels bad. And because I can't finish 2, I can't even start with D3

I organized my library on steam as Completed, Need to Finish, Not Interested in Finishing and Multiplayer / Endless. Also hid games I have absolutely no interest in and it's helped a lot. Now I have to choose a game to start.......

I practice all of these to varying degrees. I don't play any live service and mp games which is probably why I managed to beat over 800 games over the years. I don't mind playing 7 out of 10s considering I beat 12 games a month if not more and I switch games every 2-4 days, a 7 out of 10 is still a good time to me. 6 out of 10 is tolerable but anything below a 5 for me can fuck right off and I will drop it right away or and I hate this one but it starts out as a 7 out of 10 and then becomes a 5. It depends on the game but a game has to feel good to play, have levels that are not constantly over an hour long so I can plan my breaks inbetween play sesesions and avoid having way too many difficulty spikes in order for me to "beat" a game. Difficulty spikes pisses me off than anything in a game outside of crashes and game breaking bugs and glitches.

I had my backlog for 10 years now im 27 and doing more important things in life. Rip gaming for me.

Felt personally attacked by the intro. I bought Tomb Raider Definitive Edition for like $3 at least a year ago thinking I'd play it eventually. Now all 3 games are on plus extra so i can play the whole trilogy...eventually.

What do you do if you really want to replay a game you have previously played but you still have a backlog lol

What site do you use or recommend for your lists? (The one shown at 5:30 for example?)

Since I am getting new pc soon I started buying more games on sale Games that im yet to play are Dead Island 1, Sleeping dogs, Arkham Knight,Red Dead 2, Bioshock 2 and Infinite I tried Witcher 2 but im not really enjoying it

Starting up divinity original sin was probably not good for my backlog. 12 hours in and I'm still in the first area.

I end up playing sports games, they're quick, and easy.

Do you play to credits or until you feel that you got your money's worth? I've played RDR2 but I want to play it again for the alternate ending. It's just that... It's such a gargantuan task to do that. RDR2 lives rent free on my hard drive and I never play it.

Great video!! What is the website at 5:18 called??

Does anyone know what's the name of the website where Troy keeps his lists of finished games ? The one that appears in 5:12.

what is this app/site from the beginning where you got all of your games with ratings?

Yeah I spent 6 years playing wolfenstein enemy territory before it was shut down lol. I regret nothing lol. But yes multiplayer or online games do end lol when they shut down the servers it's over.

In my opinion and experience this is difficult for this with a real life.. 😊 Serious gaming is heavy investment in time, your own personal time (and probably money too).. Just go with the flow, enjoy and don't let it over take you, your health and disconnect you from the real world. "There are far more important and serious aspects of life than just gaming"... 🎮🕹 Can't wait for the next masterpiece game - Ghost of Tsushima 2 *Let's go*

What were you using for those top 10 lists?

What website/app do you use to log and review the games you play?

What's the game at 11:09? Looks cool. Great video btw, ever since I got into game collecting my backlog has just kept on growing and growing.

Oh my god, guys, just start playing one; drop it after an hour or two if you aren't engaged or having fun, add it to a list if you really think the game just needed more time, move onto the next. Stop stressing yourself out of 100 percenting; we got publishers pushing devs to fill a game with crap just to pad the gameplay time to please game reviewers; which reviewers are beginning to care less about how anyway.

The problem: when is a game "finished"? When you got through the main quest? When you accomplished even side quests and/or the coop-mode (I'm looking at you, Portal 2). Or do you even have to get every achievement? What about games like Cities Skylines, Europa Universalis or Minecraft? Can those even be finished?

Oh can I ask what website you used to sort your completed games?

And i am sitting here with no backlog, becauce i beat it and have nothing to play 😅😢

U are exactly like me in gaming TASTE , i was a completionist in AC 4 too but i always forced to do the same with every other open world game and it hurt me plenty . Witcher 3 is my fav MULTIPLE playthru game too . and i disliked elden ring as well . NOT FOR ME