This tweet inspired me to write this.
In the comments, my Twitter mutuals who used the same backlog tracker app that I personally use, all answered straightforwardly quoting that it’s easy with the help of the app. The rest of the comments were mostly pokes at the fact that they’ll never track and defeat their backlogs and have no plans to whatsoever.
It really got me thinking. A lot of my buddies on Twitter don’t track their backlog, don’t have their games organized, and all seem to think they can’t clear their backlog because of it.
I want to say that you absolutely can clear your backlog.
I’m a full believer that if you cease all video games purchases, organize all your games, and clear them one by one, you will finish it.
Organization is the sole key to clearing it. Just look at the comments of all my mutuals who use the app to track and complete their lists. They weren’t making jokes, they were serious and provided an honest answer.
So how do you organize and track your backlog so that it’s easier to clear? In today’s blog, I’ll gladly help you answer that.
Firstly, this is not a blog article about how to clear your backlog.
Personally, I don’t feel like I could write tips on that until I actually do it myself (and I plan to!)
Now that this small disclaimer is out of the way, the first thing you need to do to organize your backlog, is to get a full list of your games.
The first thing I did was I wrote down every single game that I own.
Keep in mind that just because you own a video game, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s part of your backlog and that you’re going to play and beat it.
I’m sorry, but that’s just not realistic, you’re not going to play and beat every single game in the world. There will be games that you just won’t click with and you will throw away just like that.
Your entire library of PS Plus, Game Pass, and emulated SNES games are not your backlog.
For now, though, get a list of every single game you personally own.
After you’ve written down every game you own, go back through the list and mark down ones that you’ll actually play.
At first, this is something I didn’t do. I originally set out to beat every game I bought on a Steam sale during COVID lockdown in 2020. Since I was still working, I had plenty of money to spare since I couldn’t go out. At the time, I didn’t realize that I wasn’t going to play every game — at least not right away — and that not every game I bought was a “backlog”.
Some games I bought to try; others I bought just because they were on sale and I thought, “maybe I’ll play that, let’s buy it while it’s cheap”.
These games that you don’t absolutely know for sure that you’re going to play are not your backlog.
Now that you’ve marked the games that you know for a fact you really want to play, it’s time to organize and catalogue those.
This is your backlog.
The way I organize my backlog is simple: I find out how long it takes to beat a game, and write them in my notes, or a word pad on my computer, and list them from shortest to longest.
I use a website called HowLongToBeat, getting a rough estimate from a game’s “Main + Extra” tab, as I typically NEVER go for 100% completion, but also never just do the main-story either. I’ve heard complaints about the accuracy of HowLongToBeat, but as someone who’s been using it for over a year now, I’d have to say that I don’t have any direct complaints. For the most part, it isn’t too far off.
Now that we have a full list of all of our games, completely categorized one by one from shortest to longest, it’s time to add them to an app or website that helps us further track our games. I’d say this part is completely optional, but it definitely helps to always have the app handy so when you beat a game, you can remove it from your backlog and place it in the “Beaten” tab.
There are tons of free backlog trackers out there, but I found one I liked the most after the Twitter page reached out to me on a thread once.
I personally use TheGGApp. It has a website but also has an iOS app that functions much better. This blog isn’t sponsored by them in any capacity, it’s just what I use. It’s a “Letterboxd” for gamers.
You can use whichever backlog tracker you prefer, so long as you can update it regularly. I sign into my backlog tracker pretty much daily to see and monitor how things are going for not only myself, but my friends as well.
It’s time to finally log all of your backlog into a list. There’s no actual place for a backlog of all your games on GGApp so I make a list. Since mine is so long, I actually have my backlog list locked privately from the public, and only the games I’m playing and have beaten are public.
Whether your list of games you want to play are public to your friends or not is completely up to you.
Now that you have your entire backlog listed from shortest to longest on a notepad, and fully logged into a backlog tracker, the final step is the best part. It’s time to play your video games.
As I aforementioned, this isn’t a blog about how to clear your backlog. This is a blog about how to organize it. But clearing your games is part of organization. As you beat a game, you edit your backlog. It shrinks, and you’re able to see more and more of it. Watching my backlog get smaller this year has been a personal favorite of mine. It’s given me a great sense of accomplishment. But I’m still far from done. I’m working on clearing mine so I can help all of you clear yours. You won’t play every game in your collection. You also won’t beat every game in your backlog. The biggest tip I can leave you with is that if you’re truly not clicking with a video game in your backlog, take it out of your backlog. If you don’t want to flush the game completely, it’ll still be there in your collection later on. I love Spongebob, but I’m not in a hurry to beat Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated. I also don’t speak Chinese, so the first two Gujian games are in my collection, but not my backlog.
I hope those examples help further explain what I mean.
In conclusion, organizing your backlog is the key to success when it comes to clearing it. Make a list of all your games, log them into a tracker, and set off on your journey to beating them all!
If you enjoyed this blog, please let me know. Feedback is necessary for improvement. Send me your backlog on GGApp so I can take a look.
Tell me your backlog organizing tips if you have any!
As always, thank you for reading!
- Vohris
Twitter: @Vohris
Backlog: GGApp.io/Vohris
