How do you tackle a backlog?

[amurnin100]

Easiest ones, time consuming ones , a random choice , how do you tackle that mountain of games to get through them all and what’s the one game you always keep putting off….

Edited May 24, 2022 by amurnin100

[Eraezr]

I don't do long ones consecutively. Might mix it up like long, mild, mild, short --- or long, short, short, mild. Cutting down on MP games also helps.

[giinha]

Depends on my mood. There are times that I focus on the longer ones, times that I focus on the easier ones, and other times that I focus on those who have online trophies.

[evs_castro]

I separate them by:

- Short and easy

- Long and easy

- Short and hard

- Long and hard

 

Then I mix it up and try to find some balance. If I do a long and stressful game then I'll play one or two short and easy, for example. You need to find what works for you to be honest, but I would avoid at all costs doing two hard games back to back if you have other options so you don't get frustrated to the point of giving up.

[DrBloodmoney]

Pure gut instinct - what one feels most appealing at the time.

 

I very much stick to the idea that if a game is good, but I don't feel like playing it right now, that's okay...

...at some point in the future, it will probably be more fitting to my mood.

 

That only works though, if when that mood does strike, I listen to it, and go back and play the game in question... and it's served me fairly well over the years.

[Scarlet_Phx19]

I've found that the reason for my backlog is because I have a hard time not trying to 100% each game.  If I just played the game and enjoyed it for what it is, I probably wouldn't even have a backlog.  I guess I've turned into a trophy hunter.  Proven even more so, because I play my PS games over my switch games, because they don't have trophies.  

[EDGES]

worst to best, do the hard work before enjoying the good stuff, I don't care about long vs short games, but I might play a game that I'm not that interested in just to expand a set or something like that, I try to get those games out of the way first

[X_Wizi_X]

By series

[charxsetsuna]

Possibly unpopular opinion, if its causes you stress to think about a backlog then maybe its best to just not worry about it.

Shouldn't force yourself to finish a game just to tick a box on a backlog checklist.

[ExHaseo]

I choose whatever I feel like playing at the time.

 

The real secrets are not adding to your backlog and dropping games. If you aren't enjoying something, just drop it and move on. Forcing yourself to play a game only causes burnout. And create a system where you play more games than you add. You'll get through it pretty easily.

[LegendExeter]

I don't really have much of a backlog, and I try to keep it that way.  I only have I think 12 or 13 open games right now, the rest just cannot be completed like server closures and that is fine.  I just do it based on one's that I want to complete, yet if a game starts to get down the list I will keep reminding myself...I have to go back to that.  A game like Dead Nation I didn't really enjoy the first couple of levels, for a strange reason...I can't see a damn thing; so while a lot of people claim it's a good game I'm finding it hard to go back to a game where I can barely see the enemy.

 

Lego Dimensions I just got bored with it, I will go back.  Certain games I can only play on the weekend when my son isn't there, until the summer of course when he goes to his mothers.  Like Spongebob, just sitting there waiting to be finished.  However if I start a new game with others in the backlog and I get really excited by it, backlog be damned I'm going to continue on what I'm playing, examples of this are Payday The Heist(which I'm still playing) and PAIN.

 

The key thing is I just don't let it get to me anymore, like I have some deadline or not.  I got 44 trophies on Saturday, 77 on Sunday, and 1 yesterday...and I don't care that I only got 1, I'm the player and I don't answer to the games or some boss, it's about making me happy.

[XXIIlII]

Don't have a backlog. I buy like 2-3 games max and don't buy anymore until I finish them.

[Alpha-Strider]

My backlog isn't all that big, I make a habit of waiting on sales so I never buy anything unless I'm absolutely sure it's a game I want to play and it won't be getting any cheaper. I don't usually have a strict plan for what to play, but for the last two years I've been working mostly on PS3 and Vita games. My goal is to have those backlogs clear before I even think about getting a PS5, assuming they're ever in stock that is.

[ShinySpidey]

It depends, I don't have a strategy but generally I tend to focus on one game at a time to avoid building a backlog in my profile in the first place.

However my actual backlog consists in games that I buy in a certain moment but I will play in the future. So once a game is completed, I choose the new one according to my mood in that period. For example right now I have in my backlog Dark Souls II: SOTFS and Sekiro but since I've just finished DSIII, I'll play Sekiro first to have a bit of variety 

Edited May 24, 2022 by ShinySpidey

[Crispy_Oglop]

After literal years of working through mine, while still trying to experience the new releases i'm interested in - I'm strongly considering completely scrapping my backlog entirely and just pick one game at a time that takes my interest without thinking about backlog at all. E.g I finish my current game and then just have a think what genre/title i might like to try, then do some research (if needed) and take a stab at. Right now I have a massive spreadsheet for tracking and backloggery and it's fatigue-inducing. Maybe just playing stuff wherever my preference at the time takes me will make for a positive change ?

[visighost]

A sizeable part of the enjoyment I derive from that hobby comes from backlog handling (so many Excel charts). I like to order the games by difficulty, completion time, or even the time/hd space ratio. But when it comes down to actually choosing what game to play next, I let common sense take over and go with what I feel like playing. Gaming should never be a chore.

[Sylvanticore]

Very poorly, just take one look at my account and see the state it is in, I normally ask people to select a game for me to play and then try and get round to playing it as soon as I can, so far got Salt and Sanctuary, Mega Man X Collection 1, Code Vein and Shovel Knight being games I've been told to play next, my brain is so scrambled at times that I look at games and think I need to play it but never do.

[FallenDestroyer]

I used a site called howlongtobeat. It gives average times for completing games. You put in all the games in your backlog and it will tell you your time to complete them all, mine being 419 days of straight gaming!

 

As far as where to start pick a game your interested in whether its long or short and stick with it. I have a rule of I can only play 1 other game once I've started a new game, but if I finish the second game I started I'm not allowed to play any others until the first is done.

 

Avoid playing games that are simular especially if they are long. Imagine trying to play every assassins creed in order one after the other. While it may look good on your profile it will drive you insane as it will fell like the same game for months.

 

Have a game that's just for fun, something you can de-stress on. It will give you an out or something differnt for when the grind is kicking you in the butt.

 

Don't be afraid to put a game down, if your really not feeling it and it feels like hard work to even play it, walk away. You can always return to it later when your in a different frame of mind. Games are supposed to fun not hard work

[MonaSaxPayne]

I have a "master list" of every single game I've bought/want to buy/gotten "free" from ps plus, listed in order of release date

 

I have another list of 4 categories of games that I'm actively working on, prioritized in the following order:

• online platinum
• online dlc
• campaign platinum
• campaign dlc

there can be any number of games at any given time in either of the dlc groups, but I only play 1 game at a time in both of the platinum groups. only after I obtain the platinum for a game will I replace and start working on another platinum. as u can also see, I always prioritize online trophies first (I am VERY paranoid about sudden server closures)

 

this way I can keep track of every game I want/ am interested in, and I'm never juggling more than 2 platinum pursuits at once. and unless there's some surprise dlc released in the future, when I complete a game I can just move on and never look back

 

as a side note, I've made the personal resolution that, come June, when I move over to the new ps+ premium tier, I am going to STOP buying any brand new releases unless I'm ready to play them right away. I've wasted so much money in the past on buying games day 1 even tho I know I won't play them right away, sometimes not for years even. and then they end up coming on plus/now (or heavily discounted in a sale) and I still haven't played it yet

 

 

[Viper]

I say "I'm going to tackle this backlog now!"....then go and buy more games that adds to it so it only ever gets larger rather than actually decreasing. 

[TalalHmd]

1) For the peace of mind, accept that you'll never beat your backlog

2) Make a list of all the games in your backlog, and remove the ones that aren't a priority 

3) try to be more picky and buy less games

4) implement a rule, for example if you beat 3 or 5 games, buy 1 new game or something similar to that 

5) this is the wrong forum for it, but 'Beat don't Complete' is a good tip. self explanatory, some games take 10-20 hours to beat but 40-80 to platinum/100%, obviously this is a hard one if you're a trophy hunter 

[diskdocx]

My backlog is so massive at this point, that I have started just buying more games. Instead of trying to figure out what I want to complete, I put that energy into deciding what I should buy.

 

I'm sure there's a psychological disorder in there somewhere, but I haven't got the time to figure out what it is.

[TheBlaskar]

I actually made an algorithm that helps me decide what game to do next. I never listen to it, but it's nice to have.

 

The games are weighted in two different ways: 1) how recently I've played them (the ones people see first on my page) and 2) how long it's been since I've bought them (to try to get me to play the games that are collecting dust). From the scoring system there, points are added based on: A) what trophy percentage I have, and B] how many trophies I have left. So, if they're at all on my played backlog, they'll be much higher than ones I've never played, to help my PSNP stats. This way, the games I bought longest ago but played most recently and are closest to 100% are at the top of the list... because it's like "cmon just finish them already." The ones I JUST bought but haven't touched are the lowest priority.

 

Again, I never follow this. Instead, I do whatever most recent one I haven't finished yet, and then a pick one from a while ago, and I play a new one. But feel free to steal the algorithm  

Edited May 24, 2022 by BCWrites
"B" and ")" turn into an emoji so I used a bracket instead

[Sunny]

I used to stress over trophies, games not finished etc... nowadays I just don't really care anymore, if I feel like playing something I'll play it regardless of difficultly or online trophies and if I lose interest halfway through I just write it down on my phone where I was and what else needs to be done to get the platinum and move on, then when I miss said game I go back to it and finish or play until I get bored again, to me video games were something I love doing to relax and have fun so the second it turned into a chore and another source of stress I dialed back, now I like to go back and replay games I really love that helps me a lot anyways my profile is a mess but I'm fine with it.

Edited May 24, 2022 by Sunnyburrito

[DizzyDavidson]

With a bulldozer!

 

I play whatever I'm in the mood for, all over the place with length, difficulty, genre, etc.

The seasonal backlog challenges on here help a lot keeping to it, but I'm still not making much of a dent.