Simply enjoy Gaming - Why Backlogs make no sense
Nowadays in gaming social media there is an obsession with backlogs. Many try to give themselves rules like “you have to first finish game A to then play game B”. Youtube is full of guides on how you should play. People really tend to overthink their hobbies. The past 3 months I played a bigger variation of games than ever before and I'm here to say “stop applying rules to your hobby, simply have fun!”.
Why Backlogs are wrong
Not so long ago I heard an interesting thought in the Dual Comm Podcast about backlogs. They pretty much said that the word backlogs applies pressure to your hobby “I still HAVE to play xyz” which honestly isn't fun. Life is already full of stress and things you have to do. Why should your hobby be as well?
Instead they suggested a better name for it. Your Games Library. This word alone already takes a lot of the negativity out of it. A Games Library is simply your collection of games that you could play if you want to.
In my eyes this mindset change is healthy and simply more fun. Knowing you still have the game xyz in your library that you could play if you want to just feels way better than thinking “I still have to play game xyz”.
You can't play everything!
If you are a gamer like me who has interest in a wide range of genres you will quickly notice that you simply can't play everything you're interested in. Let's just have a look at May 2026 and the games I'm interested in.
Farever, Forza Horizon 6, Lego Batman, Yoshi & the mysterious book, Sol Cesto, Spark in the Dark, 007 First Light and Mina the Hollower. Those are just the Titles that come to my mind right now. If I wanted to play all those games from start to finish I would probably have to quit my job and do nothing else in my life anymore.
Now you have two options to face this “problem”. Your first option would be the old Backlog method. You pick one game and play it from start to finish. No matter if you lose interest in between or not. In my eyes, depending on the game, this results in you simply having less fun but maybe having a greater feeling of achievement in the end. You will also simply experience less games overall.
Now your second option would be to pick a game and play as long as you enjoy it and move on. I personally played Farever for a few hours, had tons of fun and now pause it till it gets further into early access. Then i jumped into Forza Horizon 6 which I played for around 15 Hours so far. I had a blast with the game the first weekend, and right now it's a game that I can return to anytime and just simply have fun in short bursts. A few days ago, I gave Yoshi a first look and simply loved it! Next week I'm planning to play 007 First Light and Mina the Hollower.
I honestly had so much fun this month with gaming this way! With the backlog method, I would have probably only played Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which has been in my “backlog” for a while, and I did try to play it again a few days ago. I know it is supposed to have an amazing story, and I do want to experience it fully at one point. But to be honest, when I played it the last time, I simply had no fun.
There are no right or wrong ways to play
Now, after saying all of this, is there a correct way to play games? Honestly, in my eyes, no. What matters is that you enjoy your time with the hobby. If you take a lot of joy out of completing your games one after another and even sticking through the dry parts, then go for it! It can be rewarding as well. Last year I didn't enjoy a large part of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but the end made up for it and felt memorable.
Still, I feel like I, for myself, at my current point in life, enjoy gaming more with a lot of variety. I have a full time job, a wonderful wife and puppy, I currently try to learn Polish, and I started my journey to become a gamedev. So when I sit down and play video games, I want to have fun and make the most out of it. And for this, taking away the “backlog” and turning it into my own personal library of fun is the right way to go.