Backlog Maintenance

I am an analyst at heart and at work. This has its ups and downs; it earns me good money but I am prone to analysing things that a sane person would just not care about. Case in point, my gaming backlog.

Bring out your dead!

So my backlog is doing nothing but grow as of late. With some recent releases such as Helldivers 2, Palworld and Forever Skies taking chunks of my time, there are some games in my backlog that have been waiting their turn for quite a while. Baulders Gate 3 is a recent example. A older one would be the Homeworld remastered collection.

I am not sure how long some of the games I have on my backlog have been there but at this point I consider them a part of the furniture. If they stay there for much longer they will have archaeological significance!

Many games left behind

This is before we start talking about the number of games I have in my “In Progress” section. I am not sure how many of these games will get finished. Armoured Core 6 is a good example. I have nothing against the game but something came out or I got distracted and the idea of returning to that game fills me with a odd level of dread.

Why? Games like that are matters of building a particular set of skills. That and knowing what the heck you were doing and what the plethora of different mechanics, stats and terms are all about. AC6 is good in this regard because you can replay earlier missions and it has an entire tutorial section you can replay as much as you want.

Picking up what you put down ain’t easy!

Why cant more games offer this? I am in my late thirties and I have stuff I got to do (I don’t want to half the time but that’s besides the point). Being able to come back and have a refresher would be very welcome.

Is building a tutorial to be replayed so difficult for designers? Maybe people like myself are not considered the core demographic. But I cannot imagine I’m alone in this. Especially when the new hotness comes out, you and your mates are playing it and when is all said and done you struggle to go back.

There needs to be a statute of limitations

I think at some point I need to admit defeat with some of these games. While I have had the best of intentions with them they are just not coming up or I don’t get into the mood for them. My backlog needs a trim and while I have bought all of these games I doubt I will be playing them.

According to this article I am far from alone. Almost 1 in 3 of bought games have gone un-played on Steam. It seems I am in good company at being able to buy games faster than I can play them. Meanwhile there are items on my Steam Wishlist that have been there for years.

It is spring now, maybe some cleaning is in order.

What games have sat on your backlog for so long? Have you got any strategies for dealing with these issues? And would you like to see repeatable tutorials in games? Let me know what you think.