Author Topic: When will your backlog actually be completed?  (Read 384 times)

dhaabi

When will your backlog actually be completed?
« on: January 19, 2026, 11:07:41 am »
For the majority of us here, we have gaming backlogs that seem like they never shorten but instead only increase in size. So, how long is your backlog, and how much time do you project it will realistically take you to complete it should no new titles were to be added to it?

Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2026, 06:13:28 pm »
Never. And I'm 100% okay with that.


I constantly add games to the backlog and replay games I've already beat. Even if I live for another 40 years and am able to beat 60 games on average a year (40 x 60 = 2400 games beat), I'll still have games I've yet to play. However, I don't see this as some sort of failure or act of futility, but rather an opportunity to play as many games as I can in my relatively short time on this planet. Even if there are games I never get to, I'd rather think of all the ones I did play, good or bad. Obviously, I prioritize games that I think I'll like more or ones that are widely considered good games. I've also become more okay with dropping a game if I don't like it, especially if it's a longer game (10+ hours). If I do live to be 80, I hope i get to look back and smile at all the amazing gaming experiences I had throughout my life.

Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2026, 06:21:53 pm »
While I have a bazillion games in libraries thanks to freebies, I actually don't have tons of actual, genuine, backlog lol I'd be surprised if I have more than like 20 games at most that I'd want to actually play that I haven't gotten to yet.

retromangia

PRO Supporter

Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?
« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2026, 01:29:40 am »
I just look at my back log like my retirement reward. When we get to a certain age, we won't want to leave the house as much, and god damn those video games will be delightful  :D

kashell

Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2026, 10:53:04 am »
I think it will. Historically speaking, the untouched games eventually get played or they get traded in because I lose interest and/or my taste changes.

Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2026, 02:02:45 pm »
I just look at my back log like my retirement reward. When we get to a certain age, we won't want to leave the house as much, and god damn those video games will be delightful  :D


With all do respect, why not start playing them now? Obviously everyone's situation is going to be different (work, kids, and other responsibilities obviously play a factor), but there there is no guarantee of tomorrow or that you'll ever reach retirement, either due to death or other unforeseen life circumstances. Why not just jump into the backlog now? At least that's how I look at it. I definitely don't want to wait until I'm old and possible unable to play games for one reason or another to really tackle my backlog. I want to do it now while I'm still able to.

Warmsignal

Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?
« Reply #6 on: January 20, 2026, 04:32:44 pm »
I just look at my back log like my retirement reward. When we get to a certain age, we won't want to leave the house as much, and god damn those video games will be delightful  :D


With all do respect, why not start playing them now? Obviously everyone's situation is going to be different (work, kids, and other responsibilities obviously play a factor), but there there is no guarantee of tomorrow or that you'll ever reach retirement, either due to death or other unforeseen life circumstances. Why not just jump into the backlog now? At least that's how I look at it. I definitely don't want to wait until I'm old and possible unable to play games for one reason or another to really tackle my backlog. I want to do it now while I'm still able to.

Yep. That's why I'm starting to delve in now, because I'm done collecting at this point which frees up a lot of mental-bandwidth and the games on my shelf are looking more appealing to me than ever before, now that I'm not preoccupied with thinking about getting more all of the time.... I spent a lot of time building this thing up, and like you said, tomorrow is not a guarantee. You have to take the opportunity that today gives you to enjoy your time on Earth. Always forget what the saying is... life is what happens, while we're busy making other plans?

It's time to bust those games out.

dhaabi

Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2026, 04:35:14 pm »
For myself at this moment, I have logged exactly 400 games as part of my ongoing backlog. Of course, I'll play games not backlogged, the backlog will grow in size, and certain games will eventually retire from my backlog without ever having being played in the years to come. In practice, my backlog will almost certainly never be complete so long as my interest in the hobby remains. However, the question I proposed in the opening post—how long do you project for you to complete your current backlog at its current state with no new titles being added to it—is what I'm most curious about.

When thinking about that focused question, it's obviously difficult to come up with an idea since my personal backlog is so large. But were I to only play games from my backlog while maintaining the rate of play I've had these past few years, I imagine it to be around fifteen years at least. Based on numbers, that's nearly a halved rate of completion that I've been steadying, but a sizable part of my backlog includes games with lengthy completion times. Of course, I tend to play through games slowly while wanting to engage in as much of their content that I'm interested in should the effort and time to do so feels balanced, so it may take even longer.

tripredacus

Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?
« Reply #8 on: Today at 10:06:17 am »
A year ago I would have said 50 years or something. Partly because I had found that a lot of the games I had I didn't actually care for enough to play. The 52 Games challenge helped with that. It helped me go through and actually play stuff I owned and many types of games I used to like I had outgrown. Entire genres became dead to me, such as platformers and especially 3D platformers.

Now I will say never but that is because life and lifestyle changes brought me to a point where I'm not interested in playing games. The interest isn't actually gone, but the priority for them is way down. I've only played 3 games in the past 6 months: MLM, Dropsum v2 and Diablo 3 (only in the past couple weeks sporatically). All of which are "endless" so they have no ability to progress through anything.

Re: When will your backlog actually be completed?
« Reply #9 on: Today at 11:12:33 am »
Entire genres became dead to me



This has been a harsh realization for me as well. While I wouldn't say any genre is 100%, absolutely dead to me, there are a few that I enjoy significantly less compared to 15+ years ago. JRPGs specifically have really taking a downward slide when it comes to my enjoyment of them. It's a genre I want to love again just as much as I did in the 2000s and early 2010s, but I just can't bring myself to get into the vast majority of them. To a lessor extent, I've been finding I'm not as big on RTS games as I used to be. Every time I've gone back and tried replaying an old Westwood Studios RTS game and various others I just get bored or overly frustrated.