Phil’s Gaming Backlog…
Update #1 of… who knows
Over the last year I’ve started keeping a backlog and activity tracker for games that I’ve played or plan to play thanks to some inspiration from a few sources. Most notably the YouTube channel Daryl Talks Games and their backlog series over the last few years. Seriously give it and the followup videos a watch, it was fascinating and incredibly helpful at crafting this idea while avoiding some pitfalls that occurred with their experiment.
What started as a simple attempt at building a basic log for completed titles has evolved from a simple Google sheet list to a categorized flowchart and Kanban board of various statuses. It’s changed formats a number of times and will likely keep evolving as I expand or adjust uses for it. The current version consists of the categories Not Started, On Hold, On Deck, In Progress, Completed, and Dropped.
Naturally a first question would be “Why? Why make work out of something that’s meant to be fun or relaxing”
Well, I am one of many out there that have an ever growing Steam library of titles yet will still have evenings full of scrolling the library and lamenting how “there’s just nothing to play.” By going through my library and crafting a list of the titles I’m most interested into the “Not Started” or “On Deck” categories I can spend less time sifting through the giant library, eyes glazing over without absorbing what I’m looking at, and more time genuinely considering each title.
Having such a simple and accessible list of completed projects has been incredibly helpful on deciding if and when I want to dive into any topics that arise from any specific title once I put it down. I also very much appreciate having a list of friendly nudges rather than one or two topics in my head weighing down on me. If I’m not feeling one title or topic I have plenty to pick from. If nothing sounds interesting, maybe it’s time to pull something out of the On Hold section. The possibilities help avoid some pitfalls I’ve encountered in the past and has made my experiences with clearing up the backlog so much easier and enjoyable.
Looking forward to the second half of 2025, there’s no major releases I’m really looking forward to. I’m definitely still in an obscure indie game phase so I may do another deep dive and find some other interesting titles to explore. Either way, look forward to another backlog update later this year…. probably.
Now’s the time to yell at me for anything missing on my to-do list. (Yes this is bait to function test the comment section)