Topic: How do you deal with your gaming backlog?

My solution for backlog is limit eshop purchases to just DLC for physical games while the backlog is high.

I buy the discounts and the launches. Sometimes the backlog stacks but I'm fine. Sometimes I'm out of things to play and buying something on a not discount, but also not a day 1 must have purchase, sort of needs to happen to get me to play what I know I'll enjoy and I feel weird, because it's so out of habit.

Humans are funny with that. Or just I am

Generally, I play everything I buy except for eshop experiments or other 9 euro discounts on ps4 (even though some of those were full retail 1,5 years ago...) and definitely on my nintendo machines - they get the most love by far, and have always been dedicated gaming machines for me.

Now, let's see what's discounted now - oh, I know I'll like doom, but, I've got a backlog... lol!

I don't have much of a backlog of games, TBH. I don't tend to buy games that I know I won't be playing immediately. I think all I really have is Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon and A Link Between Worlds. And between those two, Luigi's Mansion is the only one I'm really interested in ever going back to. ALBW just felt too much like a directionless ALTTP and it did nothing for me.

EDIT: Oh I forgot Earthbound is in my backlog, too. I have it on my Wii U and need to go and play it someday.

@RetroGamerAndrew: That reminds me, I don't even HAVE a Switch yet, but I need to start building up a wishlist for the eshop. Like you, I'm trying to be picky, but when even some indies that I've been wanting to get for the PC (when my backlog thins more) will be coming to the Switch....Ugh. XD First Undertale, now Firewatch....

I decided I'm not buying a game before I've "completed" (meaning reached the ending or platiniumed depending on the geme) a game I own that is "in the same genre/spirit" (some might only make sense in my mind)

Rayman (100%) > Little Nightmares

Shovel Knight (100% except Plague Knight, I hate him) > Owl Boy

Doom (100%) > Wolfenstein

Escapists > Don't Starve (this means I'll never play Don't Starve since I really suck at The Escapists)

Chrono Trigger (DS) > Octopath

Volgarr > Meat Boy > End Is Nigh > Celeste

LA Noire > Dark Souls

If a game goes on a violent sale or has a pre-order offer I can't pass, I buy it but make sure not to start it !

Write down a list of the games in the backlog. Go on howlongtobeat.com to see which ones are the shortest. Do them first. In my backlog I have Xenoblade Chronicles X and Xenoblade Chronicles 2. When you can complete like 8 or 9 normal sized games in the same time it takes to complete those 2, they tend to get sent to the back of the backlog.

Ha, I've also started using howlongtobeat to check which of the games in my backlog is shortest so I can knock it off before moving on to another. Actually, I'm seeing a lot of common ground in these responses. I also try not to have more than three or four games in rotation, and usually only one in each genre (RPG, shooter, 2D platformer, open world adventure, etc).

I never had a backlog until the digital era. The idea of it would have been a pipe dream to my younger self. Even in the Amiga era, when piracy was rife, I would still only really ever play one game at a time (plus Sensible Soccer). However, digital gaming and the ridiculous sales have slowly introduced the backlog and made me realise that I didn't want one for the Switch. I currently have just three games that I have yet to start, and I won't buy another until I complete something in the same genre. If it's in a new genre - like Mario Tennis Aces - then all bets are off.

Still a bit of a completionist, but try not to indulge unless a game really clicks with me. Odyssey was actually much more enjoyable getting to 100% than just the main storyline; Breath of the Wild was a game I just didn't want to end, so I did every shrine and pretty much every side quest. But finding every Korok seed and buying every Mario outfit? That's straying into OCD.

I'm less bothered about 100%ing an eShop game. Toki Tori 2+ is wonderful, but the main story was enough for me.

I play what I feel like when I feel like it.
There is no obligation to finish every game you own. If I would force myself to finish a game I don’t feel like playing just to finish it, I think I would get tired of gaming as a hobby pretty quickly.

I tend to do my backlog on a per system basis. Right now I'm actively playing Switch, 3DS, Wii U, and PC. For the PC I just "finished" Elder Scrolls Online, and moved onto Rayman Legends. On the Wii U I'm currently playing Xenoblade Chronicles X, after which I'll probably move on to Paper Mario (N64). On the 3DS I just finished Pokémon Picross, though I was also playing Ocarina of Time. After I'm done with OOT I'm moving on to Majora's Mask. As for the Switch, I've waited a while since my birthday is right around the corner, and I'll be getting Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2. I previously finished Mario Odyssey.

Also, when it comes to 100%ing a game, I tend to do so as long as it's fun. ESO for instance has way to much content to actually 100% it, so I just went for the main stories. Mario Odyssey I didn't 100% because some of the final levels were a tad bit to tough for my liking.

In the end though, I play games as long as they're fun. I've purchased games in the past that I would start playing, get bored (or maybe even frustrated), and never finish. Those I don't consider part of my backlog. In a way, you can look at them as being finished to the best of my abilities.

@ThanosReXXX I feel the same way in terms of collecting games. I have a massive backlog but I tend to buy games to have them when I get around to them. It always sucks when you miss out on a game and the price has been jacked up

@Oat Yeah, my thoughts exactly.

Sometimes even the most average of games are now only available on sites like eBay and what not, for the most ridiculous prices, and that's simply a no-go for me. I'll get the games while they're hot and current, or after they've had their first price cut, and some titles I've simply bought second-hand/used, and had the discs polished and put them in new (DVD) boxes.

No one ever sees the difference...