Topic: How do you deal with your backlog?

How big is your Switch backlog and how do you manage it? I've got about 150 games and I sometimes struggle to even pick a game to play because of too much choice. I've got too many games on PS4 and PC aswell so can get a bit anxious about ever playing most of them. How do you manage your backlogs?

I don't buy too many games. I never really get them in the launch window either, so I have longer to play the games I already own. By the time I get around to buying the game, it has dropped in price too!

Depend on my mood, i usually play what it comfort for me right now or i still curious to continue the progress.
Of course, when talking about abandoned games, i must play them by force to get engage again with some abandoned games.
Right now, i have around 145 mixed of Nintendo and Sony games.

I try not to buy games until I'm ready to play them. The key word there is "try".

My new rule, instigated this year, is I must complete two games before I'm allowed to buy another.

It's more or less working out. I've completed one DS game and just about to finish off my second PSP game, but only one on Switch (Dark Souls). Only bought Celeste and Fire Emblem this year - neither of which I've started.

However, I will definitely get Link's Awakening and CrossCode, and almost certainly Pokemon Sword/Shield and Astral Chain - so I've got to get a move on. That's eight games! (It's not happening...)

How I manage the backlog is buy more games and hope I can finish them one day. One day

I ignore them until I want to play them. Works pretty well to be honest

I play through the ones that are the shortest and work my up. Also i don't buy that many games anymore in most cases when i look into them they're hot garbage.

Maybe you should start on the indies you bought over the years? There might be a chance that most of them aren't even worth your time. That's what happens with many people on here.

I do not deal with it … it just piles up … for eternity.

Problem with my backlog is that I have to buy the games when available as I want physical and most are through Limited Run, Super Rare etc. So the backlog just gets bigger.
But lately after finishing Super Mario Maker 2 Story mode and playing a few user made, I got bored and have been smashing through games. Finished Dust and Flipping Death in the last two weeks, just started my play through Ittle Dew 2+, still got quite a few in there.
Also with Turok, Turok 2 and Timespinner coming out in the next 2 weeks through Limited Run. My Credit Card is accruing me some Airmiles to add to the log

I don't. I'll get to them eventually.

Stop buying new games, play your older games and wait until new games are older and cheaper. You will save a lot of money and will play all the games you want eventually.

Sadly i do not deal with my backlog and keep buying new games when ever i find a good deal on ones i want. I have now come to realize that i will never get through the my 300+ and growing backlog and will be passing them on to the younger generations in my family once i'm gone. Which i'm alright with. But not till I'm gone and not one second earlier.

@BlueOcean Yeah, I've got a problem with buying too many games but then i don't play them enough so maybe I should just be happy with what i've got for now. Counting all my systems (PS3, PS4, Switch, Vita, PC, Raspberry PI for retro games) i've got well over 500 games so maybe it's time to have a long break from buying

I mainly just play what I feel like and this is across all platforms... For ps plus games I'll Normally look up how long they roughly take to beat on HLTB and see if I have that amount of time over the next few days to set aside for it, best case is I'll delete it if it's rubbish and worse case I'll end up playing to the end....or is that best case I'll find some hidden gems and worse case I'll just delete it, I'm not sure lol

But yeah it's mainly a combination of what I'm in the mood for and what I have time for.

I don't handle it well. My backlog doesn't solely consist of Switch games. As a multi-platform gamer, I have several games across PS4, 3DS, PSP, and PS Vita. My desires dance between a multitude of genres, although rpgs are my favorite. And I'm not a ratings snob either; if the price is right I'll be as eager to play a game rated 3/10 as I would another rated 9/10.

Over the past 35+ years of enjoying this hobby I've probably forgotten more games than most folks have even played. And so I play, one game at a time. Maybe I finish it, maybe I won't. I've given games like Phantasy Star Online, The Elder Scrolls, Animal Crossing, and Warframe (combined) over ten thousand hours of my life...enjoying every minute of it. And, by the same token, stopped playing Breath of the Wild just after ten hours because it's my least favorite entry in the series.

And just think, my collection pales in comparison to others I've seen.

Its managable for me, Im a Nintendo only gamer, (OWN every Nintendo Console)
I play what I want even if it gets really bad reviews.
I keep buying games I really want, had some bad luck with it in the past what in the end to still get the game costed me a lot more then the launch price ( looking at you last story 🤨)

I don't deal with my backlog, my backlog deals with me 😂. But in all seriousness. I only play 2 story driven games at a time. Nothing more than that. I also try ( key word) not to buy many games until I finish the ones I'm currently on. This is a rule I started this year, the two games at once thing and I've done a pretty good job at it. Games like Mario maker and smash kinda make it harder since you can sink alot of time into them. But yea try 2 games at once only. And try not to buy another until you finish 1 of those 2 games

I also shy away from 25+ hour games unless its zelda or something like that. I almost never buy 40-50hour games

I made a very conscious choice to not develop a backlog of any real size on my Switch, and, so far, I've done a pretty good job of sticking to that. Out of all the Switch games I own, the only ones I haven't beaten are FF XII: The Zodiac Age, Mega Man Anniversary Collection 2, and a couple of arcade games that I never expected to beat in the first place.

How to deal with your backlog? It's easy. Play more games than you purchase. That's the whole secret. It helps to suss out the difference between games you're actually excited to play and games that you just feel some vague, materialistic impulse to own. Just buy a few games each year that you absolutely can't go without and pass on the rest. They're not going anywhere.

My Switch backlog is rather small with a total of five games which are still shrink-wrapped and three which I haven't finished yet. I'm not on the third party/indie train so I don't accumulate Switch games as much.

As for general backlog growth, I do buy games on release because I already missed out on a few generations and catching up on that is a pain as someone who goes for physical releases. I'd rather pay more but get a copy that's not second-hand, not to mention missing out on multiplayer and making progress together with my friends.

Anyway, I'm actively working on my rather massive backlog these days and have been making some nice progress. I divided my game cabinet into finished and unfinished games with separated sets for franchises where you just have to feel like playing them and which tend to take longer to play (e. g. Harvest Moon). This makes it easier to keep track of what you're missing and once you're done with a game you have your selection right in front of you, so to speak. Right now I'm working on finishing my 3DS backlog (ten more games to go) and plan to go by platform; generally speaking I try to get longer or more tedious games out of the way first because if fatigue hits I can easily switch to something else for a while, same's with when I have multiple games from the same franchise. I have regularly scheduled multiplayer sessions where all of my Switch gaming lies these days, though I'm not above cramming a new game in if it's something I'm really hyped for (cough cough AC NH will take priority over everything else).

Bottom line being that I don't clear my backlog before buying/playing anything new, but I do prioritise it outside of multiplayer unless there's something I'm too hyped for (which happens rarely for me).

I don't bother trying to keep track. I have a backlog on Switch and PC.
I only buy games I'm pretty certain I want to play, by watching previews and a lot of the time not buying until I see some reviews/comments after release. Though there's quite a few I blindly buy, like new Zeldas, Dooms, and so forth. Stuff I know I want to play.

My backlog gets played by whatever I feel like playing. I'll usually have 3 games going at a time - an RPG for the long haul, some sort of action game (FPS or platformer or something like that) and a multiplayer game. Currently those games are Final Fantasy X, the Doom ports and Mortal Kombat X.