How Do You Tackle Your Backlog? (Plat Cast Topic)

[Bushido7745785]

Hey everyone! @ChernobylNinja and I run a podcast titled, "Plat Cast" where we often ask you kind folks a question, and read your answers on our show! 

 

This week we're asking: 

 

"How do you tackle your games backlog if you have one? If you don't, what do you do to make sure you don't have a pile of games sitting around?"

 

We're interested in hearing your answers as one of our goals this year is to clean out the backlogs we have! 

 

Thanks everyone! 

[Lordguwa]

i start by looking at newest first. then i just scroll up and find something that looks ready to 100% or plat.

i keep every game i haven't finished on a notepad (easier to track).

[Asvinia]

For my backlog of nearly 600 games I'm trying to stay away from thinking about trophies too seriously and just playing through stories as I would if trophies weren't a thing. I'd say about half or two thirds of that are physical games

Edited January 29, 2019 by Asvinia

[kraven_15]

I have a backlog of about 850 games. Typically when it comes time to pick a new game, I start with the games I've started but haven't got 100% on. If nothing stands out, I go through the list of games that have online trophies to work on first. Again, if nothing stands out, I go through my full list of games and play whatever I feel like at the second. I recently finished a 100% game and due to Kingdom Hearts 3 coming out, I though it might be finally be time to play Kingdom Hearts 2 so it depends on my mood and priorities at the time.

[BlackCatBurrito]

I have trouble with my backlog, like a lot of us do. Mostly because I'm a nutcase who rewards himself after finishing a few backlog games by buying more games *facepalm*

 

I also have a real distaste for any game I haven't played in a while for some reason? Even the best games, my brain just tells me I don't need to play it. Once I start it I'm fine, but it's getting to that point. 

 

I can't be the only nutcase, surely. ?

[djb5f]

I have a spreadsheet with columns for priority. High. Medium, low.  And then within High, I bold games I am actively working on or really want to start soon.

 

my backlog of unplayed games is probably 30-40 games (overwhelmingly digital from sales) which feels like a lot (to me)!

[Zenpai]

I thought my 23-game backlog was huge... but after seeing some of the answers on this topic, I realized I'm actually not all that bad

 

I just play the games, one-by-one, at regular speed. I hate rushing through things. When they're done, they're done.

[Kittet3]

I join different events where I have to play a certain type of game or game that fits into a certain category, and then I look for the easiest and quickest game I have that fulfills that requirement in my 500+ backlog and play that. I found this super useful for those games that I never get around too or that I left and haven't gotten back to- like Flower, Shake Spears!,  and most recently King's Quest. It also gives me enough flexibility that if I do find a game that I'm enjoying then I can still play that.

 

I've also been on a low-buy period lately where I'm only adding games to my backlog if they bring me joy and I want to play them. The only games I've bought this month were Don't Starve and Last Days of June, both of which were on my wishlist. 

 

Finally, I'm actually looking forward to PSPlus games getting cut. Adding 6 games a month to my backlog is probably what doomed me and reducing that to 2 will actually give me a chance

[Dantes_994]

After i stop having panic attacks and looking at those games like a bunch of exams I haven't given, I play the one that is completely different than  the one I have been playing up to that point
Hope you guys give us a link to your podcast so we can follow and all the best

[Neocarleen]

I made a spreadsheet of all the games in my backlog with each labels with their estimated time to 100%, difficulty, and genre. When I want to start a new game I look at the list and pick one that I feel like playing. Sometimes I’m in the mode for a platformer, or an RPG. Sometimes I want a short and easy game to play, or not.

[jdizzle0420]

I try to play disc games in the order I buy them. Some times I skip around though. Digital only games I usually play right away because theyre short. Its just hard for me to make the commitment to a long disc based game these days lol...

[Sofa King]

I bounce around a lot between games I've started but haven't got 100% on. I usually get in a groove on one and stick with it. I'm basically just chipping away at a handful of games between completions.

[black__bunny]

I have about 150 ps3/ps4 games in my backlog and try to mix the difficulty and genres so that I don't get too burnt out by hard/grindy trophies.

 

A good server closure is also a painful way to help cull my backlog - I can either get it done or not so either way its off the list

[InfamousKing27]

I have a massive back log of almost 300 games not at 100%. What I am doing this yr as a new yrs resolution is to not add a single game to my trophy collection the entire. I'm solely focusing on my back log.

[Beyondthegrave07]

The whole tackle your backlog thing is really impossible for me so I just sit on it and let it fester and try not to think about it and play the games I want.

 

With that being said, I just play the games that I feel like playing when I boot up the PS3/PS4 and only go for the plat/100% if it's fun. Otherwise, I just move on to the next game. You'll never get through all the games you want if you're trying to 100% everything, so you might as well pick your battles you know you're going to win.

[DizzyDavidson]

I've tried many things (including a few events here on PSNP) but nothing seems to work for me. The games just keep piling up. Feels like I'm trying to push a double decker bus up the hill by myself... I'm only going backwards.

I do keep a list of my backlog and games with online requirements are special highlighted, I tend to give those games priority if I can.

 

It's definitely a losing battle but I'm still somewhat in denial. Though I'm starting to realize it.

[sh4d0wzcs]

One game at a time. I don't want to have multiple games on the go at the same time because I'll just confuse myself with the controls.

[ProfBambam55]

i came up with a super simple solution many years ago...rather than identify with it as a "backlog", I simply substituted in "amazing collection of games to last a lifetime" and voila...the freedom to play whatever, whenever, however without a care in the world is truly blissful...

[IIoydXchristmas]

Uhhf...so I’m trying to work through my backlog by finishing up the more easy, short games. Once this is done, I’ll be left with a ton of games that’ll probably take 20 or more hours to complete at which point I’ll question everything I’ve ever believed in.

 

#dammit

[Gisquared09]

Summer is usually the best time to deal with my backlog. The last time I remember a summer triple A game coming out was The Last of Us in 2013. Since summer is a rarity for triple A titles that’s the best time to conquer my backlog. Two summers ago I played the Witcher 3 the entire summer break and it was well worth it. 

 

My my current backlog is...

Shadow of the Tomb Raider 

Far cry 5

Resident Evil 7 

Resident Evil 2

Crash bandicoot 

Spyro

Hellblade

Shadow of the colossus

Last Guardian 

Kingdom come deliverance 

Yakuza 0 

Assassins Creed Odyssey 

 

[dadoudelidou]

I've managed to reduced considerably my backlog since a year or so, I can finally say my backlog stands between 10 and 20 games!

 

- I switch between genres after a game not to get bored. Usually I try to keep only "one big game" at a time and 1 or 2 smaller games (ex: last I've played RDR2 and Fe and Burly man at Sea). This way a have a game that might fit my mood at any time ready without starting too much stuff at once.

 

- I've given up on having ALL THE PLATINUMS !! if a game is alright but not more, I'll finish the story and clear easy trophies to get to an A or B Rank. If its great, I'll Plat it. If it doesn't interest me, I'll give up on it (looking at you Doom and Titanfall 2, great games but darn I suck at FPS..)

 

- I switch between games I want to Plat and games I play "for fun" to enjoy them without any pressure nor walkthroughs 

 

- the backlog events here are helping keeping the motivation up.

 

- and more importantly, I refrein myself to buy too much games too fast. Just thinking about buying a game full price just to let it sit on a shelf for a year where I see it 75% discounted when I start playing gets me angry... Lolol

 

 

[scemopagliaccioh]

I stopped pre-ordering games. I decided that I need to get some stuff out before buying the next hot thing, such as KH3 right now. It pains me, but doing so  I'm training my  mind on not being impulsive, and also get the games with a discount.

[Feral]

By closing the cupboard very slowly and walking away quietly in case it hears me and multiplies.

[Vampirehunter145]

It depends on my mood and what's hyping me in the moment. For example: I hyped by the GOW PS4 game so i tried to plat the saga on PS3 (no success at the moment), then got struck by Stan Lee's death and tried to plat all the games i have about Marvel characters (currently 3 only) but failed miserably and now i got excited by Darkisiders III so i started playing the second installment, slowly chipping away at the story. Don't know if i get in the train for Kingdom Hearts right now or i get hooked by Darkisiders 1 and 2 in the PS3 and getting all the trophies for both games first. P.D: Currently having like 80 games (between PS3 and PS4), it's like fighting against a massive hydra.

[Bos10George]

Just do your best. I have at least 100 games I need to revisit and another 100 I have yet to attempt. I try to focus on 1 at a time (per console) and get all trophies before moving on. In certain cases like FighterZ, I will log on just to get a daily/weekly bonus rather than grind it out for 200 hours straight.