I love to play games, but if I’m being honest, I think I love buying games even more. There’s something about the excitement of getting a new one, the thrill of booting it up for the first time, and figuring out the mechanics. The only problem? I buy too many games that I never finish. I always have the best intentions when I buy them—I truly plan to sit down, play them, and see them through to the end. But then… I get distracted. A new, shiny game comes out, and boom—my backlog grows even more.

Recently, I sat down and created a database to track all the games I own. The list is… well, it’s a lot. Right now, I’m at 140 games, spread across my Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Steam Deck. And that doesn’t even include the games I still have on my 3DS (back when I used to actually finish games!).

140 games. Yeah, it’s a lot. Especially when I think about how I keep buying more games when I’ve already got a mountain of them waiting to be played. Out of those 140 games, I’ve completed 44. That includes ones I’ve finished and some I’ve marked as “Did Not Finish” because, well, I just couldn’t get into them. But that still leaves me with 96 games to tackle. Ninety-six!

I’ve been trying to be more mindful about my spending and gaming habits. For one, I don’t have a job right now. And two, I have a kid, so I don’t exactly have endless free time for gaming. So, how am I going to deal with this backlog? I don’t know yet. I want to finish these games—or at least try them—because there are quite a few that I haven’t even touched, or that I played for about 20 minutes before moving on to something else. (Animal Well, I’m looking at you. I want to play you, I really do!)

And that’s exactly why I created Backlog Buddy during my coding bootcamp project. I realized that I’m not the only one who struggles with this growing mountain of games, so I thought, why not build something to help? Backlog Buddy is designed to help gamers like me be more mindful about the games we already own and hopefully save a bit of money along the way. It tracks your backlog and recommends games you already have when you’re tempted to buy a new one, scratching that same gaming itch. I’ve built a basic MVP, but there’s still a lot of work ahead. Eventually, I plan to integrate Machine Learning (ML), specifically Deep Learning techniques, so that Backlog Buddy can learn from your gaming habits and make smarter recommendations.

But this post isn’t about Backlog Buddy. Nope, this post is about my actual backlog.

There are some real gems in that list too. Games like Hollow Knight, Persona 5, Sea of Stars, Baldur’s Gate 3, Hades, Red Dead Redemption 2, The Witcher 3, Unicorn Overlord, and Tears of the Kingdom. And let’s be real, these aren’t short games! They’re adventures that require serious commitment. Each one has its own world to explore, its own characters to get lost in, and its own story that pulls you deeper. And thats what I love about them.

Take Hollow Knight, for example. It’s a beautiful, atmospheric game with challenging mechanics that demand your attention. I’ve put a good 20 hours into it and still haven’t scratched the surface. Then there’s Persona 5—an absolute monster of a game that apparently takes over 100 hours to beat. I’ve restarted that game twice now, each time telling myself this is the time I’m going to finish it. Spoiler: I haven’t. And I can’t forget Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s so immersive, with endless possibilities and choices —I spend hours on character creation alone!

Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Creation - Image from IGN.

It’s the same story with Tears of the Kingdom and The Witcher 3. Both are incredible open-world games with so much to do that I get overwhelmed by the sheer number of quests and side stories.

These aren’t games you can casually play for an hour here and there—they demand time and attention. And with all of life’s other demands, finding the time to really sink into them has been a challenge. But the thing is, I want to play them. I want to see these stories through and experience everything they have to offer. I just need to figure out how to balance that with, you know… life.

So yeah, how am I supposed to get through this backlog?

I’m not sure. But dang it, Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom just came out, and I really want it. I guess that’s the challenge, right? There’s always going to be another amazing game coming out, but looking at this list, I know I need to be more mindful about how I approach my gaming.

Maybe the best way to tackle this is by setting small goals—like trying to complete one game a month, or at least giving each game a proper chance before jumping to the next shiny new thing. It’s not going to be easy with so many great games dropping all of the time, but I’d like to think that with a bit of patience (and eventually the help of Backlog Buddy), I can start making a dent in my backlog.

If you’ve got any tips for tackling a massive gaming backlog, or if you’re in the same boat, let me know in the comments! After all, we’re all in this never-ending side quest together.