Beating the Backlog: A Gaming Journey – An Introduction

Written by Zeke Perez Jr.

Clutter is difficult to beat. People are tidying up along with Marie Kondo’s book and Netflix show. The internet is abound with memes referencing the urge to buy new books when plenty of unread tales line our shelves at home. Even beyond physical clutter, our lists of what to consume are growing longer and becoming more arduous as friends, family, and coworkers all recommend the latest shows, books, movies, restaurants, apps, and activities. There aren’t enough hours in the day to curtail our growing lists.
 
In addition to the movies, TV shows, books, and comics that I have yet to start and/or finish, I have enough unplayed video games to last me until the PlayStation 6 comes out. Yet that doesn’t seem to stop me from getting new ones. I still find myself pre-ordering the big releases that have caught my eye and downloading the two free PlayStation Plus games every month, all while my untouched games stare me down from the shelf.
 
A large stockpile of unplayed games takes both physical space and mental space. The physical problem is obvious. A stack of unopened cases is quick to crowd the bin, drawer, or shelf where you store your games. Even when going digital, a crowded hard drive or library can force you to make some tough decisions about what to delete and what to play. As for mental space, an untapped inventory of games can bring guilt to you and your wallet. When you drop $60 on a brand-new game, you wonder shamefully whether you should have held off until you finished the last one that took cash from your bank account.
 
I’m guilty of quite a few problems that contribute to a never-diminishing stockpile of games. First, as I mentioned before, I tend to take arguably too much advantage of the free games on PlayStation Plus each month. Every now and then the free game offered will be one I had been hoping to buy for a while, but more often than not I’m downloading games because they look interesting and because they’re free. Second, I’m a sucker for side quests in open-world games. I’m not a point A to point B type player when there’s so much to do. I’ll meander and take my time doing all the little things. Finally, I sink a considerable amount of time in games with no discernible end. Sports games are a good example. While some sports titles have implemented linear story modes, they are often short, and the main draw continues to be career or franchise modes that keep rolling on.
 
This problem of a video game backlog is not a rare one. You can find countless Tweets, articles, and YouTube videos where people vent about their backlog of games and provide tips to thinning those out. Chris Plante from Polygon suggested watching streams of the games in your backlog as one approach for cutting your list down. YouTuber and video game collector/historian The Immortal John Hancock posted a video in early 2018 detailing how he approaches his growing backlog: a collection of “thousands of games” which would allow him to “play a different game every day for decades.” Hancock’s video has over 27,000 views, so clearly the problem hits home for many people.  
 
Several websites are devoted solely to the effort of beating a backlog and provide tools to do so. HowLongToBeat (HLTB), a site I rely on to get a feel for how comprehensive a game’s story is and how much time I should expect to sink into it, has a backlog feature that allows users to track their progress. Users can sort games into “Backlog”, “Playing”, “Replay”, or “Completed”, leave reviews and ratings, and track how long it took them to beat a given game.

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​All the shared guilt and useful resources brings us to the big plan: I’ve decided to finally do something about my backlog! Using HLTB as a tracker, I will log my unplayed games and track them as I try to beat them. So, what’s my goal? Is it to beat every game I own? Or just to play all of them? Do I go for 100% mastery and all of the trophies? Or is the main story the only goal? Here are some parameters:
 

• My list runs a spectrum of consoles, including games from the SNES, the N64, the Xbox 360, and the PS4. All are on the table. I’ve added around 40 games to my backlog to start.

 

• I’ll write a Beating the Backlog entry for each game I take on.

 

• I don’t want this to feel like a chore. After all, video games are supposed to be fun! For that reason, 100% completion is not my goal. I’ll try to beat the main story in most cases, but I’ll sometimes just play enough of a game to feel like I’ve gotten as much enjoyment as I can out of it. This will be especially true for games with a more nebulous conclusion or for games I’m not really enjoying.

 

• As much as I do love racking up trophies, I don’t necessarily plan to master every game, especially as doing so can sometimes double or even triple the playtime required. For example, HLTB lists Red Dead Redemption 2 as taking over 46.5 hours to beat the main story, 75 hours to beat the main story and extras (some side quests, unlockables, etc.), and a whopping ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN HOURS to go full completion-ist. Call me a quitter if you will, but I’m passing on that most times.

 

• Will there be a reward? Yes, I’ll probably use beating games as an excuse to buy new games. That’s how it works, right?

 
With the plan laid out and the backlog built, I’m all set to dive in! I plan to take on Until Dawn, Red Dead Redemption 2, and God of War in the immediate future. Bully, Ratchet & Clank, the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past will all add some nostalgia to the list. Any of the other games in my HLTB backlog are sure to emerge on a whim. Please join me on this journey, either by following along or by jumping into a list of your own games that you’ve been hoping to play. It’ll be a fun ride. Together, we can beat the backlog!

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