We all have about a billion games in our collection.  I hesitate to call it a backlog because it makes it sound like work.  Though, if you are playing games just to get through them, checking them off a list (proverbial or otherwise) it CAN feel like work instead of fun.  How do we decide what to play next?  A better question would be: How SHOULD we decide what to play next?



It would be easy to say that games should be fun and that we should play a game as long as we are having fun with it.    The problem with that is that sometimes it takes a little time to "get" a game.  My in-laws gave me a copy of Sunset Overdrive for Christmas and it was the first game that I fired up when I was finished with Far Cry 4.  I played it for several hours and I wasn't really feeling it.  I was on the verge of shelving it and trying something else when, suddenly,  it just clicked with me.  I "got" it.  I can't stop playing it now.  My wife recognizes the title screen music and groans when she hears it.  I think about it when I'm at work.  So the question now becomes: "How much of a grace period does a game get before it is shelved?"  Not an easy question.  There are multiple factors to consider.  I have a friend who will not play a game unless it has a Metacritic score of at least "I forget his magical number."  This makes no sense to me so, similarly, it would make no sense to have a grace period rule for games.

It's all subjective and the decision to play or not play a game should be made by one person, YOU, on a case by case basis

That's not to say that I don't have a few rules for choosing which game to play next....Well, more like guidelines than actual rules.


Organize games into lists
It doesn't matter how you organize them, just do it.  I used to see an alphabetical list of 247 games every time I opened Steam and I got so overwhelmed.  More often than not, I would browse the list of games for a while, select one game, then another, going back and forth, and I wouldn't end up playing anything.  I have since organized my Steam games into categories.  This way I can choose to play something based on what I'm in the mood for.  I also keep a list of "Completed Games" on Steam.  This way I can view all of the games that I have yet to complete.


At the end of the day, we are all different.  We can do whatever we want with our free time.  If you are just as happy as a clam playing every game you own in alphabetical order, go for it.  If you get a crazy sensation of joy and accomplishment from maxing out cheevos or trophies on your console of choice, who am I to tell you that you are wrong.  At the risk of sounding like an old timer, I just don't think that was what the people who made these games had in mind when they were making them. 

Balancing the Collector in me with the Gamer in me is no easy task.  I like collecting games and I like playing games.  I have come to realize that in order for me to be able to enjoy modern games more and to not feel like I have to plow through them just to get to the next game, I have to play fewer games.  This isn't such a bad thing.  I feel more relaxed when I play and I don't feel any anxiety about trying to finish something ASAP just so that I can get to the next thing.  If I am enjoying a game, I keep playing it.  If I'm on the fence, I make a decision to play or shelf it.  This new, laid back approach has helped me to love my gaming time again.  I don't need or want you to play games the same way I do, I just want you to love playing games.

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