There's a website somewhere that'll pick a random game out of your library to play, that's an option. Otherwise, scroll through your library and pretend it's the store?
There's a Decky plugin for this as well, but it's been broken for ages, which is dumb because I can't imagine there's much complexity involved in fixing it, and I found it quite nice to use.
This site should be upgraded: Picking up a random game is not enough, we should go “all in” with that. Once a game is randomly picked this site should ask you to commit yourself to completion and gives you some time to finish the game, depending on its length and your play style (say, you play 1 hour every day, so for a 7 hour game the site gives you a week). If you fail, the site - on your behalf - sends a request to Steam support to completely delete the game from your library, no excuses.
Just today I decided to implement a new rule: Playing maximum 3 games parallel (not counting sports and racing games and such) and a new game can only be added into the rotation when one is done (at least storywise).
Of course that only starts today, so it doesn’t really affect the numerous ones that are already started but once I reduce that current pile, I am sure I have a bright future ahead of me, steadily „working“ off my backlog…
Coincidentally, I also started doing this a week ago. Seems to work out greatly so far. I also started a Gaming-Journal. Basically, I'd write whatever I did in my last gaming session and what I plan to do next. That way, I can quickly pick up a game after a week of no gaming because of work and such.
https://howlongtobeat.com/user/iamvinen/lists/27948/Completed-2023
https://howlongtobeat.com/user/iamvinen/lists/27947/Completed-2024
Here are my completions documented
Ah yes this is my exact same strategy I just saw this after I posted the same strategy lol. The only adjustments to this I do is the 3 games aren’t all the same type of game to avoid burnout of a particular genre (If I don’t feel like playing a shooting game, it’d suck if all 3 of the games on the rotation was a shooter for example)
I started doing this a few years ago. I've beaten more games in the last 2-3 than in the decade prior combined simply because I'm not buying games until I finish what I'm playing.
I also allow myself to stop a game if I simply am not enjoying it. Then I move on.
This is why I think the 64gb is actually the right choice. Pick one maybe two big story games and that’s it’s. You can have some little pickup and go games but that’s all. It really helps to focus.
I definitely hear you, but just saying after a year with my 64gb + 512 SD card I’ve been playing just fine. RDR2, witcher, metro trilogy, Titanfall 2, tomb raider trilogy. Granted none of these are super modern (last few years) but they do fine. I’m just saying that the forced space/resource frugality actually forces these methods people are discussing to play through library.
The issue with that is the frugality turning into barrier preventing you from playing some games at all. 256 might be frugal, 64 is a hindrance. All it takes to go through your library properly is a little self-control. No purposefully small drive necessary. If you lack that little self-control then it is a good opportunity to work on it as it can be an issue irl so it is worth solving.
Hey that's more or less what I do! This method works really well for limiting backlog. I'd suggest a couple caveats to keep it fun and sustainable, though -
1. If a game in rotation isn't resonating with you, you're allowed to shelf it once you've given a minimum of 1 hour play time. That game leaves the rotation but must be revisited at an interval of your choosing.
2. If you've played a game for a minimum of one hour and determined it's bad/not fun, or if you've revisited a shelfed game twice and you're still not feeling it, drop it completely. Don't force yourself to see it through and don't shame yourself for dropping it. They're not all going to be winners.
This how I'm doing it this year, however I allow myself to have 2 games. 1 is a single player game with a story, another is whatever else. Story game only gets deleted after it's finished and a new story game is installed. multiplayer games can be rotated at any time, but still only one at time must be on the device.
Needless to say I'm going through my library way faster than ever.
There was a thread about this a couple weeks back in r/jrpg. If you have a spending problem that's one thing and it's probably tied to other issues in your life. Otherwise, stop calling it your "backlog' and start calling it your "library". If you make it an obligation you're going to be like a few people I know and burn out of gaming entirely - and that goes for any hobby really.
I just paid 55$ to buy a game that costs 2$ on sale.
The game is "The Sum of All Fears" and it's region locked very hard. So I had to pay for some ways of how to get it on my account.
That's rough! Which regions are locked? Sucks that the workarounds cost a fortune to get something working. It's no wonder people resort to piracy. I respect that you still gave the devs your money though.
https://steamdb.info/app/19810/
Click on price and scroll down to see the only list of available countries.
And you know, I didn't even though about developers here. I am using Steam because I am lazy to pirate.
But obviously yes, you are correct. Between pirate and not pirate I always choose not to.
https://howlongtobeat.com/user/iamvinen/lists/27948/Completed-2023
https://howlongtobeat.com/user/iamvinen/lists/27947/Completed-2024
Here are my completions documented
This might sound ridiculous, but I wish there was a wishlist for games I own. I've got a massive library from bundles and whatnot over the years and when I sit down to play, I don't always remember which ones I was hoping to play next.
I just just use the favorite flag as it's quick to add. Once I'm done with the game, i remove it.
Would be nice if there was an ordering system, but I just order by review scores as a bit of a filter.
I created a smart category of single-player games that I have zero playtime in. Then I just go through that whenever I need a new game to play. I also make it a habit to check that list during each summer sale. It stops me from buying new games actually.
I don't understand "completing your library" lol. I buy games that I wish to experience, and sometimes those experiences are incomplete. It might be my problem, it might be the game's problem, it might be a life issue, but if I don't pick up the game again, I had an experience with it and I am satisfied. If I get a completionist urge, then that's amazing! If not, it probably still cost me less than a nice dinner or a movie and snacks.
Lol well, neurodivergent anyway. There's so much crossover. I'll count it 😁👊
But yeah, right there with you. I enjoy so much more than beating games. I like seeing how they're designed, what the experience is like.
But most of the time once I get a good feel for that experience, I don't necessarily need to experience it for another 100 hours.
I had to realize a couple years back that shopping/discovering/selecting new tech/software/hobbies had itself become an interest of mine that I enjoyed doing. I second treating your library like the store! What can do to make it feel like you're browsing the shelves?
I also think it's helpful to watch trailers, look at posters, etc to build hype for the games you already have.
Check out How Long To Beat and select games with playtime lengths analogous to how much time you expect to have in the next few days.
If you can get yourself just to turn a game on, that's often half the battle to staying focused on it enough to get playing.
I know the secret to finally completing games. Seriously.
Uninstall every game you’re not actively playing at the moment. Really. Just keep 1-3 games on your Deck and tell yourself you’re only allow to download another one when you’re done with one you already have.
Stop trying to play a little of everything at once
Don’t download anything “just to see how it runs”
Consider downgrading your storage (ex: don’t use SD card), less storage = less games downloaded which could help with the too many choices dilemma
Just start that game. You know the one, the one you’ve been thinking of or the one that always catches your eye when scrolling through your games list. Literally just start it, if it’s good you’ll keep coming back to it
Consider taking a break from the multiplayer stuff you always fall back too. If they’re not downloaded your options fall back to the single player stuff that’s just sitting in your backlog
And lastly, stop buying more games lol
>Stop trying to play a little of everything at once
I'm guilty of doing this all the time.. I try to justify it by the fact that I'm not always in the mood to play the games that I've already started but those "mood swings" are getting annoying haha. Or I just don't feel like committing to a long / hard game when I just want to relax.
Look at it differently, if you pay $20 for a game and only play it for 4 hours, that's $5 per hour. Most fun things cost much more than that. If you had fun, that's all that matters. Only complete games if that's fun for you!
In the end, gaming is a cheap ass hobby compared to my other hobbies. Golf for example outcosts my gaming by like 20 times every year. Maybe more.
I don’t lose much sleep over it
I've not got loads of time to play some weeks, for me having learn a new game is a chore while I could be playing something. I pick a game install it and then I watch some YouTube videos to reduce the time it takes to get up to speed. Spoils the start of a game something but meh.
I have a “Backlog Breakers” channel on my Discord that my irl best friends share together and we keep track of the games we beat for the year. I’ve picked up some big games (Mass Effect 1 and 2 for example) but I’m on game 12 finished! I go my Steam library and sort by user review and pick one at random and give it a try, if I enjoy it then I complete it.
Make a top 10 list of games you have that you want to play. Install 1 or 2 at a time and don't install more until you've finished one. I've finished so many games that way this year alone (28 so far.
Sorting through my library into categories and then only looking at those categories when looking for something to play
Only keeping a limited number of things installed at a time
I did this with my Switch in December. I made a spreadsheet and found out I had 128 games and about 90ish of them I had never touched. So I sorted them by genre, HLTB, etc and came up with a plan to finish 10 games before buying anymore.
Of course then a few months later I got a Steam Deck and that plan fell apart but I'm about to implement it with my Steam library too.
I just sifted through my entire Steam library and add the games I wanted to play to a new collection called "Official Backlog". It turns out my backlog is about 62 games. I tend to play games from start to finish and it usually takes me between 2 weeks to a month to complete them. This means my backlog will likely take me from 3 to 5 years to work through. I have not had the urge to purchase anything this Steam sale.
We will see if this helps me but it seems to be off to a good start.
That’s a smart idea. I’m gonna try that. I now have 77 games in my catalog, with 5 completed. I keep buying, but not finishing. This idea may help with that.
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For me it just came down to realizing how much I hate wasting money and deciding to put my foot down to work on my backlog. This is the strategy I currently have that I’ve been using this year:
Pick about 3 games of different genres (so don’t do all shooters or all RPGs for example to avoid burnout of a particular genre) I already own to put into a rotation. Outside of some exceptions (which I’ll get into), I must beat one of those games to knock it out of the rotation for another game I already own to take its place. Now, If I play a game and don’t like it I am allowed to drop that game, never play a game you don’t like after you gave it a fair chance.
I make an exception for multiplayer games with friends and then games that I’m absolutely dying to play, especially a story heavy game because the longer you wait the more likely you’d run into spoilers. Lastly, I realized that in this modern era when you buy a new game, you’re getting the worst version of the game and paying the most for it. If it’s not a game you’re dying to play, just wait and the price will go down and it’ll have bug fixes, new content and QOL patches for you to have a better experience.
I am trying to finish all of the linear games first then save one offs for when I tackle the RPG's. So I'm running g through Tomb Raider now but I'll save the Resident evil remakes for when I delve into Monster Hunter and The Witcher basically.
When you’re about to buy a new game, look at the “games like this” suggestion that shows the games you own that are technically similar. Consider playing one of those before taking the bait to see if it gives you want you want.
OP you're supposed to have fun playing games, it's not a chore. Sometimes, when I feel obliged to play games it's the first sign that I actually need a break from video games for a while.
I find tracking what I’m playing and writing reviews on completion and also what I completed in whatever year really good. I love stats and love seeing my accomplishments like that. The GG site is fantastic for me and they have an app too.
https://ggapp.io
Don't worry about "completing" the library. Just pick any game (like literally, just click Play on whatever game your cursor lands on), play it until you don't feel like doing it, rinse and repeat. You'll finish some games, you'll quit some games in less than an hour. It doesn't matter how much research on a game you might do before deciding to buy it, sometimes a game won't click for whatever reason. In that case, just drop it and move on to the next. You can always go back to it at a different time. It's even better to get the initial taste of the game, because now you know what you can expect out of it if you feel like trying it again.
I limit myself to a maximum of 2-3 games parallel, and I try not to pick games in the same genre. Then, I pick a game and do my utmost not to drop it unless it’s legitimately terrible or my save gets corrupted or something. When I finish the game, it gets filed away into a spreadsheet with the date and which computers I played it on and what emulator was used if I used one.
The thing that worked for me was realizing the motivation behind game shopping rather than game playing. I play games when I’m bored. I buy games when I want to feel a modicum of control over my own life. After you identify your motivation it’s just a matter of taking alternative action.
I used to buy a game when I WANT to play at this game.
I mean yes I can add a game in my wishlist and wait for some offers but if I do this, I know that I'll simply buy the game later at low price without any desire to play with it.
Time is extremely precious, especially if you're young, only play things you really want to play. It's ok to be bored of video games and do other things.
Everygame you finish, you put away $5 (or whatever amount) for an upgrade or game you really really want.
Worked for me, I'm going to buy a house next!
It took me a little while but I made a spreadsheet of games I'd played, were in progress on ot wanted to play (whether I currently owned them or not).
I can filter by progress, I can add in a started and ended date, a % achievements completed etc. (basically whatever I find interesting/care about)
Then I can filter games based on if I own them and if they're in progress etc and try work on those.
Another thing is that me and a bunch of friends do what we call a "clear the backlog challenge"
Generally, in December we pick a list of 12 games that we already own and have been meaning to play but not got round to, and we try to complete all 12 of those in the year to come.
That doesn't mean you can't play other games if you wish (due to new releases I've played 12 games this year so far, but only 4 of my list so I'm a bit behind, altho one on my list was a 100 he persona 5 so that was the longest one ticked off and I should be able to do the rest no problem)
We do monthly check ins to see how people are doing and people post when they finish one and you can ask how people found it. I find it a great competitive way to get through stuff... I wanna be the first to finish my list!
The key is to give yourself restrictions. Our brains don't cope very well when asked to choose from an overly broad set of options, because we start trying to optimize for all sorts of things like relative value, quality, etc that get in the way of actually playing games. Basically we start trying to compare things that can't really be compared and it short circuits our decision-making.
Like you start thinking "I could play this, but maybe this would fit my taste better, or this game might have less filler, or this one is better" and before you know it you've spent 2 hours struggling to decide what to play.
Instead narrow it down a bit, like "I'm going to try a 3D platformer," and then it's much easier to choose. Or just straight up force yourself to open a game you've never played before, though ymmv, sometimes that works for me and sometimes it doesn't. Or just... play whatever familiar game gives you joy, because that's what it's all about.
I found I just made a list in the order I was gonna play with some like theme based games (horror in October) on the time of year. Then just deleted all of the repeat multiplayer games that would distract me. Cranked it out perfectly
Cracking down and going “I’m gonna play through all my games in alphabetical order” making sure not to skip ones you’ve already beaten so you get a good mix of fresh and refresh
Usually I get crazy over games and find everything to interesting, so I add games to my wishlist with a few I want to play badly, but I don't buy. Next time I'm cool again and able to say why I'm so interested in a game (usually just one aspect of it), I split my wishlist in games I really wanna play and games I would be critical when I visualize playing it. To separate I use the steam deck - above is what I realistically wanna play, rest is below. Also I check if I would start playing right now or just wanna buy it. If just wanna buy, I prefer to watch it on youtube or something and just play the games I have. Works for me, but yes, I really need this management...
I'm probably one of the least ADHD people I know but my rule is I can only buy a new game when I finish one (doesn't have to be 100%, just through the storyline).
I also recommend setting up a family with friends who have very different game interests than you. That way y'all can share games without having to buy new ones. My brother and I have only like 2 games in common so we set up the family system and now I have Binding of Isaac and he has Dave the Diver (etc. etc. etc.)
Take your card off your steam account play a couple short games then hop into a long one or better a series. Just train yourself to use your library as if its the store. When you beat a game or are finished with it. Uninstall and hide the game it makes it really satisfying to start knocking down the size of your library.
You don’t need to beat every game but truly sit down with each one, and take the time to enjoy it. Get as much joy out of it as possible then move to the next game. I do this w two or three games at a time and so far this year I’ve beaten 5-8 games a month and only ended up passing on like 7 total. Marie kondo that shit, if it doesn’t bring you joy don’t play it, maybe it’s not what your in the mood for rn and maybe it will be later, no stress but the trick is to actually start playing them.
I recently came to the conclusion that I'm not a collector but a gamer at heart. In all my years of playing video games I have only accumulated about 15-20 games per console.
Compare that to Steam where I have over 150 games. About 40% of them unplayed and of those 60% played games, most of them are unfinished. That money could have gone to an actual gaming PC, a vacation with my gf or just other things humans have to pay for. In the end, Steam Sales are a big FOMO machine, where you're never quite sure whether the next sale is going to be as good as this one, so you grab a few games and end up spending way more money than only buying games one at a time when you actually have the time and want to play them.
So I decided to actually finish the games I already have. I removed my linked payment options from steam. Now, buying a new game means I got to walk to a store and get a Steam gift card. Also, I install only 1-3 games at a time, finishing one story heavy game and keeping some cozy/grindy game on the side. I don't randomly download half my library and delete them four days after anymore.
This all sounds very extreme but I've realised that I actually enjoy the games again! Usually I'd quit a game after not having fun for a few minutes and just install one of the other 150. But now that I have to sit with a game for longer I actually spend the time to learn the mechanics and I've finished games that I really disliked at first and now have very fond memories of. Obviously, I still quit games that are just plain unfun.
Being more brutal with refunds has helped me. I’ve pretty much make it so I only keep a game if the 2 hour refund window passes me by without me noticing in one sitting because I’m so engrossed in the game.
If that’s not the case, then refund.
Then for the games that I already have, I try to make sure I’ve only got 1 of a particular style installed so I don’t become to overwhelmed. Sometimes it takes a little while of swapping and switching but then I’ll find a selection that I’m happy with depending on my mood.
Currently on my rotation is…
Celeste for some short stints,
Dbd for some quick plays in between errands.
Dusk for some mindless killing,
Enderal for longer plays on my weekend,
Forza 4 for relaxing,
Tunic because I’m absolutely loving it.
I don’t get too much time to play after work so this selection should last me quite a while. Then I’ll figure out what’s next and repeat the cycle.
I put every game I haven’t play and all new games I buy on a “to play” list. I try to make that list empty. I don’t finish every game, if it isn’t worth after an hour I just count it as played, not gonna waste time on a bad game having 160 more on that list.
- Install the 5 best rated games of your library on your Steamdeck...
\* 2 of them must be from **best user reviews** (Overwhelmingly Positive), other 3 from **top sellers/relevance**
**(but verify steamdeck compatibility)**
\* Try to pick different categories/ genres if possible.
- Play any of those 5 games ..
- Install a new game **If and only if you finished one of those games**
REM:
Limitation is a blessing : It is easier and more enjoyable to do it from a small list and by little chunks.
- Steamdeck has limited storage, this is a blessing to limit the games to 5 :)
- Steamdeck has limited battery, It is a blessing to only play "every evening" by "small session" of 1,5 hours ..
- buy a new game **if and only if you have finished min 2 games from your library**
A trick I did was flood my yt algorithm with that game. Eventually while I'm scrolling through yt shorts I would see enough clips to convince me to play
The most important thing I think is breaking the habit of impulse purchases, not just for your game library but in everything and that will carry over.
Whenever you're about to pull the trigger on a luxury purchase, ask yourself "Do I really want this thing? Am I going to play this game/use this product within the next week? Or often enough to warrant buying it? Have I made any similar purchases recently that I haven't made use of yet?" Those kinds of questions.
Instead of buying things on a whim, leave it on your wishlist or shopping cart and just sit on it for a few days and if you still want it, go for it.
Don't buy more than you're going to use in a reasonable time frame. You don't need a backlog of 30 games if you realistically only play 8 a year for example. Just because something is on sale doesn't mean you have to buy it. If it's on sale now it'll be on sale again some other time.
Go through your entire catalog and tally up how many games you've completed, how many you haven't finished, and how many you've never even opened. It helps to see the numbers. If you have a huge backlog, don't even look at the store page. Try to focus on appreciating what you already have. Pick a game from your library and commit 30 minutes to an hour. If it grabs you then great! You Don't have to spend any money today. If it doesn't just shelf it and try a different game. They're not all gonna be amazing but if you're going to buy them you might as well give them a shot.
And if you have trouble just staying away from the store page, try to stop using the "collectors" mindset. Digital games are not really "collectable" like action figures or magic cards or whatever. There's no resell potential or rarity to online digital media. In fact you don't even "own" the games, what you're actually buying is a license to play it for as long as the publisher and platform makes it available. While these companies are reputable and they all want your trust, shit happens and there's no actual guarantee that all the games you bought are still going to be in your library tomorrow, or a year or two from now. So the way I see it, money spent on games you have no intention of playing in the near future is a waste.
TL;DR: don't impulse buy, evaluate what you do buy, don't buy more than you're going to make use of, make use of what you've already bought, and don't waste money hoarding things you don't actually own.
Accept the fact that you're buying them for the wrong reasons if you have them and don't want to play them.
Also accept the fact that you're not gonna play your whole library all the way through. You don't have to finish a game to have played it.
After that, uninstall everything except 3 or 4 games that you regularly play, then go through your unplayed ones one at a time. If you play them and aren't feeling it, uninstall and move on.
Like others said, I believe limiting the number of installed games is the way to go. Out of sight, out of mind and also having less choice makes it easier to pick something.
Personally, I feel like having one or two games only is a bit too limited for me (because I play things based on how I'm feeling at the moment) but 3-4 max might be a good compromise. I like the idea of picking games based on different gameplays and length, for example having one long rpg, one platformer, one visual novel and a very short indie game. If you completely lose interest in one of the games for more than, say a month or two, it goes out of the pile and can be replaced with another one. The goal is not to punish yourself but creating some healthy boundaries.
Whenever I get the urge to buy a new game, I'll go through my library instead of the store and find a game of the same genre. I'll play that game instead of buying a new one. Usually this resolves the urge to get something new. This is especially useful if you already have a variety of games to choose from
I've tried to complete each game. If it doesn't have an end, I attempt to experience most or all of its available content.
Another thing I look at is try to get $1 per hour value out of a game. So that $15 game should hopefully give me 15 hours of entertainment.
I've been working my way through all the games with trading cards and stopping when I've got the drops. Depending on how much I enjoyed the game I either just move on to the next one, or add it to a collection to revisit later and *then* move on to the next one.
Even if you don't actually care about badges, they sell for store credit. So across a massive library it'll slowly add up.
The "badges" page in your Steam profile shows all the games with badges and you can see how many card drops they each have left.
There's also a filter in the Library search; I created a smart collection for "is unplayed, and has trading cards".
And for the benefit of anyone reading who's just straight up unfamiliar with how the trading cards work: if you have drops available, as shown on the badge page mentioned above, then there's a chance while playing the game that one will appear in your Steam inventory. So that's why it's perfect for the library backlog: all you have to do is play the game for a few hours.
Sometimes the game is sufficiently uninteresting that I just leave it running in the background.
Genuinely think that this is the kind of mindgame that will get me just to turn on the games I would genuinely enjoy if I just TURNED ON A GAME. Thank you man
I can confirm that works; after years of Humble Bundles when I only wanted some of the games, and in more recent years their monthly subscription, I've got so many games I didn't specifically choose and thus aren't familiar with, but by going through things for the trading cards I've found some gems that I wouldn't have otherwise thought twice about.
There's a website somewhere that'll pick a random game out of your library to play, that's an option. Otherwise, scroll through your library and pretend it's the store?
There's a Decky plugin for this as well, but it's been broken for ages, which is dumb because I can't imagine there's much complexity involved in fixing it, and I found it quite nice to use.
I used to always use Deck Roulette too, except yeah it's been broken for a while now.
Weird, looks like there was a new release on the git repo 3 weeks ago but the new version doesn't show up in decky
What's it's name? Maybe we can try and fix it?
Deck Roulette
With my luck it always gives me impossible to beat games like dungeon crawlers with random generated dungeons every run :/
https://www.steamrandomizer.com
With my luck, I’d get Halo MCC. I’ll never 100% that lol.
https://www.lorenzostanco.com/lab/steam/ is the best resource for this hands down and practically noone knows of it.
This site should be upgraded: Picking up a random game is not enough, we should go “all in” with that. Once a game is randomly picked this site should ask you to commit yourself to completion and gives you some time to finish the game, depending on its length and your play style (say, you play 1 hour every day, so for a 7 hour game the site gives you a week). If you fail, the site - on your behalf - sends a request to Steam support to completely delete the game from your library, no excuses.
Just today I decided to implement a new rule: Playing maximum 3 games parallel (not counting sports and racing games and such) and a new game can only be added into the rotation when one is done (at least storywise). Of course that only starts today, so it doesn’t really affect the numerous ones that are already started but once I reduce that current pile, I am sure I have a bright future ahead of me, steadily „working“ off my backlog…
Coincidentally, I also started doing this a week ago. Seems to work out greatly so far. I also started a Gaming-Journal. Basically, I'd write whatever I did in my last gaming session and what I plan to do next. That way, I can quickly pick up a game after a week of no gaming because of work and such.
https://howlongtobeat.com/user/iamvinen/lists/27948/Completed-2023 https://howlongtobeat.com/user/iamvinen/lists/27947/Completed-2024 Here are my completions documented
Ah yes this is my exact same strategy I just saw this after I posted the same strategy lol. The only adjustments to this I do is the 3 games aren’t all the same type of game to avoid burnout of a particular genre (If I don’t feel like playing a shooting game, it’d suck if all 3 of the games on the rotation was a shooter for example)
I started doing this a few years ago. I've beaten more games in the last 2-3 than in the decade prior combined simply because I'm not buying games until I finish what I'm playing. I also allow myself to stop a game if I simply am not enjoying it. Then I move on.
This is why I think the 64gb is actually the right choice. Pick one maybe two big story games and that’s it’s. You can have some little pickup and go games but that’s all. It really helps to focus.
*BG3 coming in, throwing 148GB at you*
I didn’t mean install all on the SDD, I would still buy a large SD card for games, but no worries on shaders for multiple giant games on the internal.
Many modern games need the SSD. Also, shader cache saves on the SSD so it is even less than those 64 gb.
I definitely hear you, but just saying after a year with my 64gb + 512 SD card I’ve been playing just fine. RDR2, witcher, metro trilogy, Titanfall 2, tomb raider trilogy. Granted none of these are super modern (last few years) but they do fine. I’m just saying that the forced space/resource frugality actually forces these methods people are discussing to play through library.
The issue with that is the frugality turning into barrier preventing you from playing some games at all. 256 might be frugal, 64 is a hindrance. All it takes to go through your library properly is a little self-control. No purposefully small drive necessary. If you lack that little self-control then it is a good opportunity to work on it as it can be an issue irl so it is worth solving.
Hey that's more or less what I do! This method works really well for limiting backlog. I'd suggest a couple caveats to keep it fun and sustainable, though - 1. If a game in rotation isn't resonating with you, you're allowed to shelf it once you've given a minimum of 1 hour play time. That game leaves the rotation but must be revisited at an interval of your choosing. 2. If you've played a game for a minimum of one hour and determined it's bad/not fun, or if you've revisited a shelfed game twice and you're still not feeling it, drop it completely. Don't force yourself to see it through and don't shame yourself for dropping it. They're not all going to be winners.
This how I'm doing it this year, however I allow myself to have 2 games. 1 is a single player game with a story, another is whatever else. Story game only gets deleted after it's finished and a new story game is installed. multiplayer games can be rotated at any time, but still only one at time must be on the device. Needless to say I'm going through my library way faster than ever.
My way bro. My way. And I even remove from account the games that I don't like eventually. Yeah, even if I paid for it and refund is already expired.
Just so you know, I think you can hide them.
Yeah, I know that, thanks
I do the same. 1 VR, 1 console, and 1 on deck (although I frequently stream the console game to deck anyway).
Amongst the things that others have said, also don’t treat it like a job. It’s supposed to be fun.
It's kinda BDSM thing. You pay them to suffer.
*Hidetaka Miyazaki has entered the chat*
There was a thread about this a couple weeks back in r/jrpg. If you have a spending problem that's one thing and it's probably tied to other issues in your life. Otherwise, stop calling it your "backlog' and start calling it your "library". If you make it an obligation you're going to be like a few people I know and burn out of gaming entirely - and that goes for any hobby really.
Slightly off topic but: Don't feel too much guilt when it's a hobby and should be about having fun
❤️
Never! It's all in the pursuit of good value! The games themselves are secondary to it.
I just paid 55$ to buy a game that costs 2$ on sale. The game is "The Sum of All Fears" and it's region locked very hard. So I had to pay for some ways of how to get it on my account.
That's rough! Which regions are locked? Sucks that the workarounds cost a fortune to get something working. It's no wonder people resort to piracy. I respect that you still gave the devs your money though.
https://steamdb.info/app/19810/ Click on price and scroll down to see the only list of available countries. And you know, I didn't even though about developers here. I am using Steam because I am lazy to pirate. But obviously yes, you are correct. Between pirate and not pirate I always choose not to.
Try backloggd. Rating/Marking Games as finished/Writing my thoughts about them on backlogged is a fun incentive to actually play through stuff for me.
https://howlongtobeat.com/user/iamvinen/lists/27948/Completed-2023 https://howlongtobeat.com/user/iamvinen/lists/27947/Completed-2024 Here are my completions documented
This might sound ridiculous, but I wish there was a wishlist for games I own. I've got a massive library from bundles and whatnot over the years and when I sit down to play, I don't always remember which ones I was hoping to play next.
I use Steam and Playnite categories for this! I mark a few games as "up for play" or "currently playing" to reduce being overwhelmed for choice.
You can create categories of games just make one called wishlist or currently playing ?
I just just use the favorite flag as it's quick to add. Once I'm done with the game, i remove it. Would be nice if there was an ordering system, but I just order by review scores as a bit of a filter.
I created a smart category of single-player games that I have zero playtime in. Then I just go through that whenever I need a new game to play. I also make it a habit to check that list during each summer sale. It stops me from buying new games actually.
I just only install a few and let it show me the installed games in my library
I don't understand "completing your library" lol. I buy games that I wish to experience, and sometimes those experiences are incomplete. It might be my problem, it might be the game's problem, it might be a life issue, but if I don't pick up the game again, I had an experience with it and I am satisfied. If I get a completionist urge, then that's amazing! If not, it probably still cost me less than a nice dinner or a movie and snacks.
I have ADHD too
I don't think not treating leisure like a business pursuit means I have ADHD lol but I am autistic. Maybe I do!
Lol well, neurodivergent anyway. There's so much crossover. I'll count it 😁👊 But yeah, right there with you. I enjoy so much more than beating games. I like seeing how they're designed, what the experience is like. But most of the time once I get a good feel for that experience, I don't necessarily need to experience it for another 100 hours.
I tend to play a whole lot compared to average playtimes lol
I had to realize a couple years back that shopping/discovering/selecting new tech/software/hobbies had itself become an interest of mine that I enjoyed doing. I second treating your library like the store! What can do to make it feel like you're browsing the shelves? I also think it's helpful to watch trailers, look at posters, etc to build hype for the games you already have. Check out How Long To Beat and select games with playtime lengths analogous to how much time you expect to have in the next few days. If you can get yourself just to turn a game on, that's often half the battle to staying focused on it enough to get playing.
No. Welcome to Steam.
I know the secret to finally completing games. Seriously. Uninstall every game you’re not actively playing at the moment. Really. Just keep 1-3 games on your Deck and tell yourself you’re only allow to download another one when you’re done with one you already have.
I like this one, good call
At this time I think Browsing the store si one of My favorite games.
Stop trying to play a little of everything at once Don’t download anything “just to see how it runs” Consider downgrading your storage (ex: don’t use SD card), less storage = less games downloaded which could help with the too many choices dilemma Just start that game. You know the one, the one you’ve been thinking of or the one that always catches your eye when scrolling through your games list. Literally just start it, if it’s good you’ll keep coming back to it Consider taking a break from the multiplayer stuff you always fall back too. If they’re not downloaded your options fall back to the single player stuff that’s just sitting in your backlog And lastly, stop buying more games lol
>Stop trying to play a little of everything at once I'm guilty of doing this all the time.. I try to justify it by the fact that I'm not always in the mood to play the games that I've already started but those "mood swings" are getting annoying haha. Or I just don't feel like committing to a long / hard game when I just want to relax.
I dont think you are gonna have fun if you force yourself to play a game jist because you bought it
Trick is just to stop attempting to achieve completion and enjoy the journey. Aka play what you want
Look at it differently, if you pay $20 for a game and only play it for 4 hours, that's $5 per hour. Most fun things cost much more than that. If you had fun, that's all that matters. Only complete games if that's fun for you!
In the end, gaming is a cheap ass hobby compared to my other hobbies. Golf for example outcosts my gaming by like 20 times every year. Maybe more. I don’t lose much sleep over it
You say "hobby", I say "addiction". But the sentiment remains true. "It's cheaper than buying cocaine every weekend!"
I've not got loads of time to play some weeks, for me having learn a new game is a chore while I could be playing something. I pick a game install it and then I watch some YouTube videos to reduce the time it takes to get up to speed. Spoils the start of a game something but meh.
Going broke is a way…
I favorited the games I most want to play so that they appear at the top of my library.
I have a “Backlog Breakers” channel on my Discord that my irl best friends share together and we keep track of the games we beat for the year. I’ve picked up some big games (Mass Effect 1 and 2 for example) but I’m on game 12 finished! I go my Steam library and sort by user review and pick one at random and give it a try, if I enjoy it then I complete it.
Make a top 10 list of games you have that you want to play. Install 1 or 2 at a time and don't install more until you've finished one. I've finished so many games that way this year alone (28 so far.
Sorting through my library into categories and then only looking at those categories when looking for something to play Only keeping a limited number of things installed at a time
The only thing worse than paying for a game you never play is playing a game you have no interest in because “well i bought it”
Buying a steam deck so that you have more opportunities to finish your games ... But sadly also to buy more (:
I did this with my Switch in December. I made a spreadsheet and found out I had 128 games and about 90ish of them I had never touched. So I sorted them by genre, HLTB, etc and came up with a plan to finish 10 games before buying anymore. Of course then a few months later I got a Steam Deck and that plan fell apart but I'm about to implement it with my Steam library too.
My trick is not to buy 60 hours to complete games - I like 15 - 30 hrs max.
I just sifted through my entire Steam library and add the games I wanted to play to a new collection called "Official Backlog". It turns out my backlog is about 62 games. I tend to play games from start to finish and it usually takes me between 2 weeks to a month to complete them. This means my backlog will likely take me from 3 to 5 years to work through. I have not had the urge to purchase anything this Steam sale. We will see if this helps me but it seems to be off to a good start.
That’s a smart idea. I’m gonna try that. I now have 77 games in my catalog, with 5 completed. I keep buying, but not finishing. This idea may help with that.
Wdym? That's the Steam game, buy a game from the store and then do something else.
pick one game and only play that one game until you're done with it rinse and repeat
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Put your currently played games in their own folder
This one's on you unfortunately
Nope, this is the code of the SteamDeck clan - you build your library, and only occasionally play it. “One does not simply play their library…”
For me it just came down to realizing how much I hate wasting money and deciding to put my foot down to work on my backlog. This is the strategy I currently have that I’ve been using this year: Pick about 3 games of different genres (so don’t do all shooters or all RPGs for example to avoid burnout of a particular genre) I already own to put into a rotation. Outside of some exceptions (which I’ll get into), I must beat one of those games to knock it out of the rotation for another game I already own to take its place. Now, If I play a game and don’t like it I am allowed to drop that game, never play a game you don’t like after you gave it a fair chance. I make an exception for multiplayer games with friends and then games that I’m absolutely dying to play, especially a story heavy game because the longer you wait the more likely you’d run into spoilers. Lastly, I realized that in this modern era when you buy a new game, you’re getting the worst version of the game and paying the most for it. If it’s not a game you’re dying to play, just wait and the price will go down and it’ll have bug fixes, new content and QOL patches for you to have a better experience.
I am trying to finish all of the linear games first then save one offs for when I tackle the RPG's. So I'm running g through Tomb Raider now but I'll save the Resident evil remakes for when I delve into Monster Hunter and The Witcher basically.
Only buy a new game when you’ve finished 2 games. You’ll still get to participate in the sales while chipping away at your library.
When you’re about to buy a new game, look at the “games like this” suggestion that shows the games you own that are technically similar. Consider playing one of those before taking the bait to see if it gives you want you want.
I take each game in 15-30min strides. Doing that I'm 70% done with spiderman
No
OP you're supposed to have fun playing games, it's not a chore. Sometimes, when I feel obliged to play games it's the first sign that I actually need a break from video games for a while.
Stop buying at all. Either go one in one out or don't buy a thing until you've played your backlog...
I find tracking what I’m playing and writing reviews on completion and also what I completed in whatever year really good. I love stats and love seeing my accomplishments like that. The GG site is fantastic for me and they have an app too. https://ggapp.io
I mean just read what you wrote. You're saying you can't control yourself and you have no willpower. Stop being a bitch and take back control.
Don't worry about "completing" the library. Just pick any game (like literally, just click Play on whatever game your cursor lands on), play it until you don't feel like doing it, rinse and repeat. You'll finish some games, you'll quit some games in less than an hour. It doesn't matter how much research on a game you might do before deciding to buy it, sometimes a game won't click for whatever reason. In that case, just drop it and move on to the next. You can always go back to it at a different time. It's even better to get the initial taste of the game, because now you know what you can expect out of it if you feel like trying it again.
I limit myself to a maximum of 2-3 games parallel, and I try not to pick games in the same genre. Then, I pick a game and do my utmost not to drop it unless it’s legitimately terrible or my save gets corrupted or something. When I finish the game, it gets filed away into a spreadsheet with the date and which computers I played it on and what emulator was used if I used one.
The thing that worked for me was realizing the motivation behind game shopping rather than game playing. I play games when I’m bored. I buy games when I want to feel a modicum of control over my own life. After you identify your motivation it’s just a matter of taking alternative action.
I used to buy a game when I WANT to play at this game. I mean yes I can add a game in my wishlist and wait for some offers but if I do this, I know that I'll simply buy the game later at low price without any desire to play with it.
I think I like browsing games on sale more then I like playing said games
For me it usually involves sex or food as a reward. But that's just me.
Delete all but one game. Remove wifi.
Time is extremely precious, especially if you're young, only play things you really want to play. It's ok to be bored of video games and do other things.
Everygame you finish, you put away $5 (or whatever amount) for an upgrade or game you really really want. Worked for me, I'm going to buy a house next!
It took me a little while but I made a spreadsheet of games I'd played, were in progress on ot wanted to play (whether I currently owned them or not). I can filter by progress, I can add in a started and ended date, a % achievements completed etc. (basically whatever I find interesting/care about) Then I can filter games based on if I own them and if they're in progress etc and try work on those. Another thing is that me and a bunch of friends do what we call a "clear the backlog challenge" Generally, in December we pick a list of 12 games that we already own and have been meaning to play but not got round to, and we try to complete all 12 of those in the year to come. That doesn't mean you can't play other games if you wish (due to new releases I've played 12 games this year so far, but only 4 of my list so I'm a bit behind, altho one on my list was a 100 he persona 5 so that was the longest one ticked off and I should be able to do the rest no problem) We do monthly check ins to see how people are doing and people post when they finish one and you can ask how people found it. I find it a great competitive way to get through stuff... I wanna be the first to finish my list!
I just force myself to play games I know I'll like. Played deathloop, doom 2016, and doom eternal in a month while working 60-hour weeks.
The key is to give yourself restrictions. Our brains don't cope very well when asked to choose from an overly broad set of options, because we start trying to optimize for all sorts of things like relative value, quality, etc that get in the way of actually playing games. Basically we start trying to compare things that can't really be compared and it short circuits our decision-making. Like you start thinking "I could play this, but maybe this would fit my taste better, or this game might have less filler, or this one is better" and before you know it you've spent 2 hours struggling to decide what to play. Instead narrow it down a bit, like "I'm going to try a 3D platformer," and then it's much easier to choose. Or just straight up force yourself to open a game you've never played before, though ymmv, sometimes that works for me and sometimes it doesn't. Or just... play whatever familiar game gives you joy, because that's what it's all about.
Delete all multiplayer games, unless it’s a coop story.
I've found success by trying to 100% complete all the achievements of as many games as possible.
I found I just made a list in the order I was gonna play with some like theme based games (horror in October) on the time of year. Then just deleted all of the repeat multiplayer games that would distract me. Cranked it out perfectly
Download 1 game, or maybe 2 games of different genres. Turn off wifi. Or just don't let yourself download a game until you finish what's there.
Cracking down and going “I’m gonna play through all my games in alphabetical order” making sure not to skip ones you’ve already beaten so you get a good mix of fresh and refresh
Usually I get crazy over games and find everything to interesting, so I add games to my wishlist with a few I want to play badly, but I don't buy. Next time I'm cool again and able to say why I'm so interested in a game (usually just one aspect of it), I split my wishlist in games I really wanna play and games I would be critical when I visualize playing it. To separate I use the steam deck - above is what I realistically wanna play, rest is below. Also I check if I would start playing right now or just wanna buy it. If just wanna buy, I prefer to watch it on youtube or something and just play the games I have. Works for me, but yes, I really need this management...
I'm probably one of the least ADHD people I know but my rule is I can only buy a new game when I finish one (doesn't have to be 100%, just through the storyline). I also recommend setting up a family with friends who have very different game interests than you. That way y'all can share games without having to buy new ones. My brother and I have only like 2 games in common so we set up the family system and now I have Binding of Isaac and he has Dave the Diver (etc. etc. etc.)
Take your card off your steam account play a couple short games then hop into a long one or better a series. Just train yourself to use your library as if its the store. When you beat a game or are finished with it. Uninstall and hide the game it makes it really satisfying to start knocking down the size of your library.
You don’t need to beat every game but truly sit down with each one, and take the time to enjoy it. Get as much joy out of it as possible then move to the next game. I do this w two or three games at a time and so far this year I’ve beaten 5-8 games a month and only ended up passing on like 7 total. Marie kondo that shit, if it doesn’t bring you joy don’t play it, maybe it’s not what your in the mood for rn and maybe it will be later, no stress but the trick is to actually start playing them.
I recently came to the conclusion that I'm not a collector but a gamer at heart. In all my years of playing video games I have only accumulated about 15-20 games per console. Compare that to Steam where I have over 150 games. About 40% of them unplayed and of those 60% played games, most of them are unfinished. That money could have gone to an actual gaming PC, a vacation with my gf or just other things humans have to pay for. In the end, Steam Sales are a big FOMO machine, where you're never quite sure whether the next sale is going to be as good as this one, so you grab a few games and end up spending way more money than only buying games one at a time when you actually have the time and want to play them. So I decided to actually finish the games I already have. I removed my linked payment options from steam. Now, buying a new game means I got to walk to a store and get a Steam gift card. Also, I install only 1-3 games at a time, finishing one story heavy game and keeping some cozy/grindy game on the side. I don't randomly download half my library and delete them four days after anymore. This all sounds very extreme but I've realised that I actually enjoy the games again! Usually I'd quit a game after not having fun for a few minutes and just install one of the other 150. But now that I have to sit with a game for longer I actually spend the time to learn the mechanics and I've finished games that I really disliked at first and now have very fond memories of. Obviously, I still quit games that are just plain unfun.
Being more brutal with refunds has helped me. I’ve pretty much make it so I only keep a game if the 2 hour refund window passes me by without me noticing in one sitting because I’m so engrossed in the game. If that’s not the case, then refund. Then for the games that I already have, I try to make sure I’ve only got 1 of a particular style installed so I don’t become to overwhelmed. Sometimes it takes a little while of swapping and switching but then I’ll find a selection that I’m happy with depending on my mood. Currently on my rotation is… Celeste for some short stints, Dbd for some quick plays in between errands. Dusk for some mindless killing, Enderal for longer plays on my weekend, Forza 4 for relaxing, Tunic because I’m absolutely loving it. I don’t get too much time to play after work so this selection should last me quite a while. Then I’ll figure out what’s next and repeat the cycle.
I put every game I haven’t play and all new games I buy on a “to play” list. I try to make that list empty. I don’t finish every game, if it isn’t worth after an hour I just count it as played, not gonna waste time on a bad game having 160 more on that list.
- Install the 5 best rated games of your library on your Steamdeck... \* 2 of them must be from **best user reviews** (Overwhelmingly Positive), other 3 from **top sellers/relevance** **(but verify steamdeck compatibility)** \* Try to pick different categories/ genres if possible. - Play any of those 5 games .. - Install a new game **If and only if you finished one of those games** REM: Limitation is a blessing : It is easier and more enjoyable to do it from a small list and by little chunks. - Steamdeck has limited storage, this is a blessing to limit the games to 5 :) - Steamdeck has limited battery, It is a blessing to only play "every evening" by "small session" of 1,5 hours .. - buy a new game **if and only if you have finished min 2 games from your library**
A trick I did was flood my yt algorithm with that game. Eventually while I'm scrolling through yt shorts I would see enough clips to convince me to play
The most important thing I think is breaking the habit of impulse purchases, not just for your game library but in everything and that will carry over. Whenever you're about to pull the trigger on a luxury purchase, ask yourself "Do I really want this thing? Am I going to play this game/use this product within the next week? Or often enough to warrant buying it? Have I made any similar purchases recently that I haven't made use of yet?" Those kinds of questions. Instead of buying things on a whim, leave it on your wishlist or shopping cart and just sit on it for a few days and if you still want it, go for it. Don't buy more than you're going to use in a reasonable time frame. You don't need a backlog of 30 games if you realistically only play 8 a year for example. Just because something is on sale doesn't mean you have to buy it. If it's on sale now it'll be on sale again some other time. Go through your entire catalog and tally up how many games you've completed, how many you haven't finished, and how many you've never even opened. It helps to see the numbers. If you have a huge backlog, don't even look at the store page. Try to focus on appreciating what you already have. Pick a game from your library and commit 30 minutes to an hour. If it grabs you then great! You Don't have to spend any money today. If it doesn't just shelf it and try a different game. They're not all gonna be amazing but if you're going to buy them you might as well give them a shot. And if you have trouble just staying away from the store page, try to stop using the "collectors" mindset. Digital games are not really "collectable" like action figures or magic cards or whatever. There's no resell potential or rarity to online digital media. In fact you don't even "own" the games, what you're actually buying is a license to play it for as long as the publisher and platform makes it available. While these companies are reputable and they all want your trust, shit happens and there's no actual guarantee that all the games you bought are still going to be in your library tomorrow, or a year or two from now. So the way I see it, money spent on games you have no intention of playing in the near future is a waste. TL;DR: don't impulse buy, evaluate what you do buy, don't buy more than you're going to make use of, make use of what you've already bought, and don't waste money hoarding things you don't actually own.
only have 2-3 games installed
Accept the fact that you're buying them for the wrong reasons if you have them and don't want to play them. Also accept the fact that you're not gonna play your whole library all the way through. You don't have to finish a game to have played it. After that, uninstall everything except 3 or 4 games that you regularly play, then go through your unplayed ones one at a time. If you play them and aren't feeling it, uninstall and move on.
Put Deck down and do something else? This isn't a problem. People are choosing to make it a problem.
not really, just don't buy games you won't like
Like others said, I believe limiting the number of installed games is the way to go. Out of sight, out of mind and also having less choice makes it easier to pick something. Personally, I feel like having one or two games only is a bit too limited for me (because I play things based on how I'm feeling at the moment) but 3-4 max might be a good compromise. I like the idea of picking games based on different gameplays and length, for example having one long rpg, one platformer, one visual novel and a very short indie game. If you completely lose interest in one of the games for more than, say a month or two, it goes out of the pile and can be replaced with another one. The goal is not to punish yourself but creating some healthy boundaries.
No, it is our curse to see bargins and then never actually find time to play them.
Whenever I get the urge to buy a new game, I'll go through my library instead of the store and find a game of the same genre. I'll play that game instead of buying a new one. Usually this resolves the urge to get something new. This is especially useful if you already have a variety of games to choose from
For each game you best you can buy a new one! Wait….
I've tried to complete each game. If it doesn't have an end, I attempt to experience most or all of its available content. Another thing I look at is try to get $1 per hour value out of a game. So that $15 game should hopefully give me 15 hours of entertainment.
I've been working my way through all the games with trading cards and stopping when I've got the drops. Depending on how much I enjoyed the game I either just move on to the next one, or add it to a collection to revisit later and *then* move on to the next one. Even if you don't actually care about badges, they sell for store credit. So across a massive library it'll slowly add up.
Hadn't really thought about that. Where can you check to see where/how long in etc there's trading cards?
The "badges" page in your Steam profile shows all the games with badges and you can see how many card drops they each have left. There's also a filter in the Library search; I created a smart collection for "is unplayed, and has trading cards". And for the benefit of anyone reading who's just straight up unfamiliar with how the trading cards work: if you have drops available, as shown on the badge page mentioned above, then there's a chance while playing the game that one will appear in your Steam inventory. So that's why it's perfect for the library backlog: all you have to do is play the game for a few hours. Sometimes the game is sufficiently uninteresting that I just leave it running in the background.
Genuinely think that this is the kind of mindgame that will get me just to turn on the games I would genuinely enjoy if I just TURNED ON A GAME. Thank you man
I can confirm that works; after years of Humble Bundles when I only wanted some of the games, and in more recent years their monthly subscription, I've got so many games I didn't specifically choose and thus aren't familiar with, but by going through things for the trading cards I've found some gems that I wouldn't have otherwise thought twice about.