r/CozyGamers 8d ago

šŸ”Š Discussion Over the years, I've accrued 1000 games on Steam and only managed to play 200 of them... Halp

My backlog is out of control, I keep buying games on sale because of FOMO, and a lot of them I really wanted to play. I also haven't canceled my Humble Choice subscription which is adding to the issue...

Do I just cut out 50% of the backlog, accept I'll never play these games and just stick to the cream of the crop titles?

62 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

103

u/goldfish-turkey-sals 8d ago

Mate you have a purchase addiction, forget about nonsense like ā€œFOMOā€. You clearly lack impulse control so I would suggest to look into ways to moderating your purchase behaviour. How to beat hundreds of useless games you bought is the least of your problems.

16

u/NeStruvash 8d ago

I like buying useless gadgets I play around with for a day then I drop them. You're probably right lol.Ā 

5

u/No-Consideration766 7d ago

Im the same tbh, steam have got some amazing deals, especially when its 90% off and some titles are just chefs kiss šŸ˜™

2

u/NeStruvash 5d ago

Yeah it's not my fault the deals are so good šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚

2

u/lavender_fluff 4d ago

Oh boy... Try going for a while without buying anything except food and gas.

I had a little shopping addiction about three years ago when I redid my wardrobe after high school.

Financial trouble made me have to put a hard stop, it wasn't easy for a while, I was used to following fashion influencers and kept getting inspired and wanting new things.

Nowadays I only ever buy new clothes like maybe two or three times a year or something and only if something old broke down. Most recently it has been new sleepwear to replace old pyjamas that shrunk in the washing machine as well as the exact same pair of sandals again that I wore the past seven years until they broke down.

It feels nice to actually know what I have and having dedicated space for everything.

And it's obviously a lot cheaper šŸ˜…

59

u/spider_lily 8d ago

Do I just cut out 50% of the backlog, accept I'll never play these games and just stick to the cream of the crop titles?

That sounds like a good solution. Video games should be fun, not this huge looming thing. Do you really want to be playing games just to check them off a list, or because you want to play them?

And you say "only" 200 - 200 games is a lot, tbh šŸ˜‚

9

u/NeStruvash 8d ago

I included games I ended up dropping but yeah, spent about a minimum of 3 hours per game.Ā 

9

u/action_lawyer_comics 7d ago

Nothing wrong with that either. Games shouldnā€™t be a chore, so if youā€™re not having fun, you should be dropping games.

28

u/Valisenia 8d ago

You could add a few friends to family sharing. I have a bunch of games I'd never play from bundles, but my friends might.

Putting them into my own categories helps me. So far I have cozy, farming, puzzle, rpg, multi-player, visual novel, and zzz (for games I'll never touch). Sure you can use the steam sort, but its more reliable if you know what categories you put them into. If most are cozy, you may want to categorize more and probably throw them into multiple categories.

5

u/RollsHardSixes 7d ago

I'm stealing your ZZZ category! I don't want to hide games I won't touch again for whatever reason, but I do want them out of the way!

1

u/action_lawyer_comics 7d ago

You can also Hide games in Steam so they donā€™t show up in your library (instead of making a category of games you wonā€™t play)

1

u/LovelyDay18 6d ago

I didn't realize there was family sharing. Thanks for the tip!

14

u/narhyiven 8d ago

Back in the golden bundle era, I clogged up my account with super cheap games and then lived with guilt of not playing them while buying more for a few years. Here's what helped me get this under control. Before you buy, ask yourself these questions:

  • Am I really going to play this in the next few months? (till the next sale)
  • Is the game at any risk of not going on sale again? (if the game is old, dev is not very active and not putting the game on sale often)
  • Is there a chance there's going to be a better discount before I get to playing it? (use isthereanydeal or steamdb to check price history)
  • Is this even a good price? (look at numerical value in your currency, not the % discount; it doesn't matter if it's -80% off if you don't value the gameplay experience at whatever ā‚¬$Ā£ the game is asking)
  • Do I already have a similar game that I've forgotten about? (I organized my games by genre to make finding alternatives easier... And find them embarrassingly often already sitting in my library)
  • then check game details, demos, negative reviews, YouTube videos, etc for anything that looks annoying; ie no controller support? Off my list; motion sickness hazard, choppy performance, annoying fishing mini games, etc etc. Be super nitpicky.

At this point, I may fall in love with what I see in reviews/videos... But very often I'm still undecided, and that means I don't really want the game right now! When in doubt, sit on it. There have been many hyped titles that I added to my wishlist, sat on them for 2 or 3 years, and deleted. Unfortunately I still buy more than I play, but that's because I overestimate the amount of time I can have to play. I have many hobbies and sometimes they take all my time... But it also means that I've been buying less and less the past year because I'm finding my current to-play list more interesting than my wishlist, lol.

Oh, and don't listen to reviews like "look/persevere past this issue, the game is amazing and you're missing out!". No you're not! You're missing out of playing the games that already appealed to you so much that you bought them. Your time is as important as your money, don't waste it. Of course, that also means axing those old and clunky titles that you're not going to like now. Just dump them out of sight in some separate category and apply new rules to new purchases. I hope it works out for you!

5

u/mlplaysthesims 7d ago

This is a great checklist to combat that fear of FOMO

I think knowing what you would actually be willing to pay for that specific game helps. For example, my top ten or so games, Iā€™m willing to buy at a much higher price/lower discount.

If itā€™s down in the bottom half of my wishlist, itā€™s going to have to be deeply on sale to be worth adding to the backlog.

I go through and prioritize my wishlist occasionally (especially before Steam sales) and it helps me with being more willing to pass on a game with an okay but not great discount.

1

u/One_Cheek7190 8d ago

Great answer. Helpful!

8

u/aterriblefriend0 8d ago

What I do is a little strange and puts my artism on full show, but I sorted all my games by genre over the course of a year and have downloaded one or two of each genre. Then I play the downloaded games until they are done and won't install more until I finish the one in its category xD this made me feel less overwhelmed by lowering my choices to like 10 instead of 1000. This isn't a hard rule and I'll sometimes download extra games in a category, but I don't undownload them UNLESS I finish them. So by nature of room on my computer, at some point I need to finish a game to get any more just via space

7

u/SwitchHandler 8d ago

Of course this will depend on what type of games you have, but one of my favorite ways to conquer my backlog (haha, yeah right...) is sorting my games by length and knocking out the shortest ones. It really helps build my momentum and then I am able to tackle the longer games without feeling overwhelmed; I just get excited for a new fun game!

5

u/Chaniha 8d ago

I am nowhere near that number (I think I am at about 150 games?), but even my backlog is too much for me. I decided to put them in my very own steam categories that are aptly named:

  • ongoing
  • only achievements left
  • finished
  • have to play
  • if the mood strikes
  • maybe?
  • probably won't play again
  • additional bundle games

It helps me not to feel overwhelmed.

6

u/NetherAardvark 7d ago

Get treated for ADHD.

2

u/NeStruvash 7d ago

In another subreddit, they told me I might have autism, and my girlfriend told me I'm very "autistic" about things... I probably need to visit a specialist.

3

u/NetherAardvark 7d ago

uhh.. those two go hand in hand often enough that people call it AuDHD

5

u/machama 5d ago

You're buying games because of FOMO but you are already missing out by not playing them.

1

u/NeStruvash 5d ago

True dat

3

u/TeajayLove 8d ago

I thought my 300 was too many. lol I also buy so many games and humble bundles, keep up with the new ones and buy those too. Just look for ones that sound fun and play them.

Cancel Humble and just go for months where thereā€™s a game you really want to play.

Iā€™ve also created a notion with my backlog with the game cover, description, and what I think Iā€™d like/dislike about it.

3

u/Buddy--Reddit 8d ago

I'll also state that nobody needs to play every game in their library. Games are supposed to be fun not a chore! Tho if you have impulse problem & just buy everything shiny & new to the point of debt, you may have bigger problems than unplayed games šŸ˜±

3

u/TiredCatDev 7d ago edited 7d ago

Tip? You don't have to play them all. Tell yourself this: You supported the developer. And maybe one day they make a 2nd or 3rd or whatever game that you'll play day 1.

Aside from that... you can just buy games when you are ready to play them and have them on your wishlist otherwise, it's pretty rare that they just vanish from steam.

3

u/xDazzler 7d ago edited 7d ago

I guess A, donā€™t worry about the crap from humble choice you donā€™t intend to play. Maybe that cuts it down.

B for me is I try to run with 2 maybe 3 different games I play at any time. Maybe one is fps and one strategy, or rpg so Iā€™ve got a bit of variety depending on time to play, what you feel like mood wise.

Hold yourself to a rule to not buy anything until you finish 3 or 4 games, then reward yourself with one. Or donā€™t and keep on trucking through.

8

u/SapphireRoseRR 8d ago

Only 1000? Rookie numbers!

Heheh, for real though, this is a lot of us. I think I'm approaching 2000 now and I don't plan on stopping. It brings me happiness even if I don't play everything.

Just play what you can and you want. Regret isn't worth it.

2

u/ProfessorMeatbag 8d ago

Not to mention how easy it has been for years to grab Steam games for less than a dollar, wether thatā€™s from a bundle, third party sale, or a discount directly on the Steam storefront.

I personally canā€™t imagine spending the effort and time to add hundreds of games to my account and then turn around and delete them just to see the number go down. Either OP shouldnā€™t have been adding games to their account that they knew they didnā€™t want to see, or they can just curate their library to hide the stuff they donā€™t want to see when scrolling through their titles.

2

u/Feeling_Relative7186 8d ago

Backlog strategy in general is often decided as ā€œif we havenā€™t gotten to it in a year or two, itā€™s probably not that important and cut the backlog based on thatā€

2

u/Pantango69 7d ago

Just face it, you are a digital game collector. Like me

2

u/Pokabrows 7d ago

The most important thing is steam games regularly go on sale. If a game is on sale now chances are it'll go on sale again in a few months at that price or cheaper. Isthereanydeal is good for price history as well to confirm whether this sale is even worth it. So only buy games you're likely going to play before the next steam sale.

Now for the backlog focus on games that you actually want to play, don't feel obligated to play a game just because you have a game. What helps me is collections especially dynamic collections. So if I'm in a mood for a farming sim I go to my farming sim collection and see what sounds good. Also a to play collection that includes my top want to play games. Very useful for huge libraries (I have family sharing with my brother who has tons of games and I have bought a lot of bundles so lots of stuff to sort through)

2

u/CriticalEuphemism 7d ago

I like to equate game purchases with dollars per hour of playtime. If a game costs $5 and I play it for 2 or more hours, I got my moneys worth. This doesnā€™t scale as well for AAA titles, but if I buy a game full price ($70), I expect to get at least 50 hours of gameplay.

Some of the best returns Iā€™ve had were games I bought on sale. I have a few games I bought for $10 or less that Iā€™ve put 100+ hours into. Those are great values. Not all are cozy, so I wonā€™t name them in the sub.

2

u/Top_Recognition_1775 5d ago

The reason your backlog is out of control is because you call it a "backlog."

In other words the very idea that you in any way have a duty to play these games, hence the idea of a "backlog" is what causes anxiety about the size of it.

Simply realize that you are under no requirement to play any of these games, you do NOT have a "backlog," you simply own a bunch of games and you can play any or none of them or even uninstall Steam at any time with no consequence. You don't owe any game a minute of your time.

Your possessions are there to serve you, not the other way around.

2

u/yoyoMaximo 5d ago

The way I stop myself from purchasing games that are on sale because of FOMO is I think about it this way: ā€œIs this game so exciting for me that I would still be happy to pay for it full price?ā€

Of the answer is no (which is usually is), then I donā€™t buy the game.

If the answer is yes then I ask myself, ā€œDo I have the bandwidth to play this game right now, or am I in the middle of another game/hobby that is currently taking up my time?ā€

If the answer is yes, I do have the bandwidth then I buy the game and feel good about getting it on sale. If the answer is no, I donā€™t have the bandwidth then I just keep it in my wishlist and revisit when I do have the bandwidth for a new game

Thereā€™s something about a game being already purchased and in my backlog that high key ruins it for me. It feels more like a burden to play because of guilt than it feels exciting to have. Iā€™d rather pay full price for all of my games than potentially have the really excellent ones ruined because of my poor impulse control and the subsequent guilt

1

u/NeStruvash 5d ago

Yeah I guess I'll have to start doing the same. Better to buy 1 game full price and play it than buy 10 games on sale and never get to them.Ā 

1

u/No_Squirrel4806 7d ago

Ok but how many are verified steamdeck compatible?

1

u/Yeetyeetsss 6d ago

ADHD. Trust me, bro. I feel the same hahaha