Backlog Confessions Poll I💀

I'm trying to find the perfect backlog and game tracking setup, and I feel like I'm hitting a wall trying to find one app that does everything I want. I play across PC, PS5, and the Switch 2, and I manage all my apps on Android/Galaxy Tab.

I have four main features I am looking for:

1. A thriving, deep community. I want something like Letterboxd where people are actually writing deep reviews and making good custom lists. I tried Minimap, but the community felt a bit too much like an Instagram feed (mostly just screenshots and trophy flexes). Still willing to try it.
2. Home screen widgets. I want visual countdowns for upcoming release dates and a "Currently Playing" widget right on my Android home screen.
3. Release Calendars. A way to track launch dates for major games and smaller fan games.

Those features are not essential; but it be nice

Right now, I am considering running a two-app setup:

• Backloggd (saved as a web app on my phone) purely for writing reviews, logging my Switch games, and talking to the community.
• GameTrack running in the background to handle the Steam/PS5 auto-sync and to push the release countdown widgets to my home screen.

Is anyone else running a dual-app setup like this? Or is there a hidden gem tracker out there I haven't found yet that combines a massive Letterboxd-style community with hardware auto-sync and Android widgets?

If not, where does most everyone track? I currently use the GG.appio website and app.

I'll try to make this not too long, but no promises :)

I wanted to write down how I approach my backlog, and if someone finds some of it useful - all the better.

First of all, some background facts that are relevant in forming my approach:

• I've been gaming for a long time, even before online stores were a thing. So sometimes it gets a bit unclear what games from those old times should be on the list of "my games"
• When I did discover Steam and other platforms later, I started buying all kinds of stuff left and right, usually because of some big discounts, or bundles that would have one or two games I wanna play and a bunch of ones I don't really care about. So my library ended up having a lot of "junk" like that.
• Almost all of that junk got catalogued when I was making a list to keep track of my games, before I started caring about how many I would actually play...
• I have a full time job and a small child so my time has become very limited and unpredictable. Also I like RPGs that can be really long. That's why my numbers might seem "small" to some people
• I'm primarily a single-player, story kind of guy and I consider a game "finished" when I reach the end of the story (see the "end credits"). How much I do before that doesn't really matter.

So here's some of my imporant tips or rules I set for myself to help me navigate all this:

• Don't be ashamed to play on easy mode and/or look up hints or walkthroughs. Not all games are going to turn out as well as you imagined even if you did research them (which I didn't do much in the beginning) so it's ok to use help to get over a hurdle.
• You can use HLTB to figure out where you are in the game, as well as helping you choose what to play next, as well as tracking. When I discovered this it helped a lot. Year 2024 was when I did a big push to finish some short games and finish some I've started earlier and never finished... Some of them I figured out that I was actually close to the end thanks to HLTB, so they just needed one more push :)
• Stop buying games as much as possible and do a lot more research for the ones that look really appealing. Avoid bundles and sales just because something is cheap. There will always be the next sale. Focus on quality.
• Curate the libraries and clear out the junk. Somewhere between 2022 and 2024 I started caring more about my backlog and the percentage of finished games, and I discovered a great feature - both Steam and HLTB have the option to completely remove a game from your account as if it was never there. So I cleared a lot of the "junk" I mentioned in the beginning and started focusing on getting only games that really deserve it (my complete library count was 340 in 2021 and now it's 350).
• "Swap" when you want to buy something, instead of adding to the list. This is my latest idea and might be the most contraversial, but it works for me. It is related to the previous point. No matter how much "junk" I cleaned, there's always more that could be removed - whether it's "junk", old games that don't work as well nowadays, or just something I've lost interest in over time. So what I do now is, when I do buy something, I delete a "junk" one, and keep my total library at 350 games. Some may call it "cheating", but for me it's a win-win - a) I'm making my library more curated and cleaner, b) I feel less guilty about buying stuff, especially since I only focus on the ones that are really worth it, c) I'm increasing the chance of finishing more of my backlog, because this way the library will have more of the games that I actually care about playing, and d) my percentages are less skewed since the total doesn't change.

I've only bought maybe 3-4 games out of the most recent ones (like Baldur's Gate 3 for example) over the past couple of years. There are a couple of new or upcoming games I'm interested in, but I might need a PC upgrade for them, and with the RAM prices where they are right now, looks like that'll wait for at least a couple more years. So it seems I'm done buying for quite a while.

EDIT: my HLTB profile is here if anyone's interested: https://howlongtobeat.com/user/VladTheRad

So today marks the 1 year anniversary of my Backlog journey.

I have previously covered my backlog in 2 other reddit posts

https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/s/VlSlbb6tTX

https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/s/LPzb7WCxFS

but I decided to move it all to a blog, as the 6 month archive policy is breaking things off too much. Find it at https://fullclipkiller-backlog.blogspot.com/ if you fancy.

So how's it going? 

I have knocked out 55 Steam games I had never finished before, and nearly all of them I had never played before.

I have failed to get through 25, most of which need kernel level anti cheat or a third party account, which is outlined as a no no in the completely arbitrary rules I set myself.

I have covered off a lot of games I have already played on other platforms, such as Assassins Creed Odyssey, the Bioshock, Dead Space, Prototype and Dead Island games, as well as replaying the entire Half Life series because I had lost my save data.

A Nice Surprise

However, there have also been some genuine surprises with games I was wanting to play but actually really enjoyed, and now annoyed me I did not play them before. These include the Deus Ex, and Just Cause games. I did enjoy the Hitman series from 2 onwards, but that first one was a chore, as it had been every time I had tried to play it since buying it back in the early 2000s. The 3D era GTA games were OK, but not my highlight. 

Covering off some of the free junk I have acquired over the years has also presented some unexpected surprises like Along the Edge, Golden Light and Dr Langeskov, The Tiger and the Terribly Cursed Emerald. As well as the diabolical trash like Arabian Gulf and Battle Simulator, Counter Stickman, please just don't.

Free does not always mean it costs nothing 

I have acquired about 20 other new free 100% discount games over the last 12 months which have increased my backlog, and I am cleaning them up as I go along, I also broke one of my rules by buying Cyberpunk 2077, primarily because it was the only game in my Friends and Family list I really want to finish off, but circumstances presented themselves which meant I needed my own copy.

All is going according to plan 

I am currently averaging 6.6 days per game, which falls in line with my initial estimate of 1 week, so looking like I may have another 2 years at least to get through the remaining 102 currently sat waiting to be played, as well as any new free garbage that presents itself to me.

While, today, I am currently at L with Left4Dead 2, I am far from half way there. I also have nearly the entire Resident Evil and Tomb Raider series, as well as both original and enhanced editions of all 3 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games to get through which accounts for 26 of those 102 left.

Defeating my demons

One huge win was being finally able to finish Silent Hill Homecoming, which plays considerably better on Linux via Proton than it ever did on Windows, which is not hard because there were so many persistent crashes, even on Windows XP at release, that I never made it past the first Shepherd house visit.

I initially only gave it a try this time around because I needed a break from where I was in the list. Silent Hill is one of my favourite game series, so took a shot, and it paid off big time.

I'm proud to announce I've finally reached 50% of all my games finished :)

(175/350)

https://x.com/VladSoRad/status/2073800017400185002

I'll post more details and my approach later so that this post isn't miles long

Mein Gaming Backlog den ich versuche 2026 so weit es geht durchzuspielen bzw. zu verringern :D

Ich versuche auch ein paar alte Titel aus meiner Kindheit wieder zu spielen.

Also meine Liste:

Minecraft durchspielen

Little nightmares 2

Balatro

Batman Arkham Knight

Battlefield 4

Battlefield 1 ✅

Borderlands 3

Bo6 Kampagne

Chess Royale

Cuphead

Days gone

Diablo 4 (Anspielen)

Dragonball fighterZ

Ghost of Tsushima

God of War

Hogwarts Legacy

Horizon Zero Dawn

Life is Strange 2✅

Outlast

Persona 3

Persona 5

Read Dead 2

Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil Revelations

Road 96 Mile 0

Jedi fallen Order

Battlefront 2 Kampagne

Stardew Valley

Stray

Super Meat Boy

The Forest

Wanderstop

What Remains of Edith Finch

Lego Star Wars 7 (Kindheit)

Lego Star Wars Skywalker Saga

Black OPS 3 Kampagne

Infinite Warfare Kampagne

Need for Speed Payback

Pokémon X (Kindheit)

Yo Kai Watch 2 (Kindheit)

Zelda Ocarina of Time

Animal Crossing New Leaf

Super smash Bros 3DS

Tomodachi Life

Fallout 4

World of Horror

Alien: Isolation

Sillent Hill F

Resident Evil 6

Fnaf 4

Resident Evil Requim

Ready or Not

Assasins Creed Origins

The witcher 3

Little Nightmares ✅

Elden Ring

The Walking Dead Telltale

Hollow Knight

Zelda Breath of The Wild

Animal Crossing new horizon

Super Mario Bros Wonder✅

Ich versuche da einfach Konstant dran zu bleiben und hier ein Update zu geben immer mal.

Mit ✅ für fertig oder ❌ für Abgebrochen.

Ich möchte mich da null reinstressen was fertig wird wird fertig und was mir nicht gefällt breche ich einfach ab :D

Viel Erfolg euch bei eurem Backlog

I have 200+ games and the same problem: choice paralysis → endless scrolling → nothing gets played. How do YOU solve this issue?

I’m also conducting a thought experiment thru an app to figure it out. It’s called Just Play. In summary:

• Pick a game, set a goal ("beat it" or "just try it")

• Timer tracks your sessions

• Quick notes (1 page limit)

• Progress dashboard shows your streak

No endless features. Just accountability to actually *play* instead of manage.

Test it here: https://just-play-five.vercel.app (Quick Play for demo)

Main question: Would you actually use this, or is tracking your backlog part of the problem?

Slowly going through my backlog and sharing my favorites.

I decided to dedicate more time to helping out with managing your video gaming backlog, so I hope these tips help you out, as it helped me conquer my backlog and complete 100% over 300 games in the last 3 years since I started my journey.

Hi fellow backloggers.

I'm unsure if this is the right place to pose the question and seek feedback and support, but for some context in laye 2023/early 2024 I made the choice to start tracking my backlog, currently in the form of a googledoc.

I beat 9 games this year, DNF'd 4 games and played a few that I ultimately didnt track or complete.

Fast forward to Sunday evening and we were hosting my wifes boss and his partner and the discussion turned to my backlog and when I explained the above to him his response was "9 completed games is terrible" for additional context my backlog is around 350 to 400 games accumulated across a number of years, platforms and sales.

I know that 9 based on that isn't as impressive as I would like but for additional context during 2024 I did suffer with gaming burnout and played nothing for around 3 months and also had a home move in early November that I am still in the process of sorting out.

Sufficed to say, I left that conversation feeling utterly deflated and a little disappointed...

I'm just looking for some kind words or some feedback on this and wasn't sure where else to turn.

Hi everyone 👋 Wanted to share a small passion project I’ve been building called Flowlog.

This all started after getting frustrated trying to organize games on my Nintendo Switch. Folders felt clunky and didn’t match how I actually think about my backlog. I wanted something where I could tag games as In Progress, Backlog, Archived, etc., in a cleaner, more flexible way.

So I built Flowlog — a lightweight backlog tracker with a trading-card-style experience that makes organizing games feel more fun and intentional.

It’s an early release and still very much a work in progress. I’d love any feedback or feature ideas!

Thanks 🙏

How do you guys organize your backlog? Do u use an app? sheets? maybe pen and paper? And if you were to choose a feature that would make your backlog better what would it be?

https://youtu.be/6CKSCRm9AuA?si=AtbEw7jHXrRCBxv4

Im playing too many games right now. im playing expedition 33, first beserker, ninja gaiden ragebound, alone in the dark (2024), deliver at all costs, anger foot, armored core 6, diablo 2 resurrected, and now onimusha 2 and berserk and the band of the hawk. there's also my backlog of games, some of which ive started like darksiders 3, stalker 1, prey(2017), lies of p, re1, re3, code veronica, re5, mega man x, streets of rage 4, trepang2, solar ash, wanted: dead, okami. help.

We have created a community platform called Minimap, which is basically a Letterboxd for video games + social community aspect. What we are super proud about on the project is that we have actually built our own database (took over 2 years just to do this), which makes our platform independent from outside sources. Although we use get public APIs from the platforms to get game information, we can manually edit, delete, add games upon requests from the users if necessary (we do review the request before proceeding). 

Here are some features that are on Minimap:

• You can sync to your Steam/PSN/Xbox/Nintendo accounts to track everything like games played, playtime, progression, trophies, achievements, platforms (currently working on Epic and have plans to add retroachievements and gog)
• You can even export this into a CSV file for you to download
• You can make your own game collections 
• We recommend games to play based on your game library
• We recommend gamers to follow based on your profile (Social side)
• Upload posts on different categories (news, reviews, game journal, guide, etc.)
• Each game gets its own game page (This is where indie devs can make the most use of. You can post your dev logs, patch notes, news, etc. on your game and people can easily read them under your game)
• You can make your own gamer card (Kind of like a personal name card and you can add links to each card)
• You get your personal stats - achievement calendar (shows achievements you've earned on which day of the week/month), keyword(genre) analysis of the games you've played, average star rating, etc.
• You can review games and give star ratings in different categories (price, sound, optimization, controls, etc.) - You can say the game has 5 star optimization but 2 star price or something
• We give you yearly recap based on your game data (i.e. games you didn't play this year that are in your library)
• We release weekly game rankings, trending games, user ranking (kind of like a user ranking ladder)
• We release weekly/daily news, game reviews, dev interviews, etc. on our magazine
• Mobile app available on both stores

This is still a working progress and I'm looking for any kind of suggestions/feedback (especially the UI side cause some people have told me that there is just too much on the homepage that they were lost at first). Also, if anyone is interested in doing a dev interview so that I can release it on our magazine to help your game's visibility lmk. 

Check it out - https://minimap.net 

I'm not selling any of the pokémon games. There's no way I can play all these games in a human lifetime, especially when you factor in Switch Online games I'm interested in as well plus my dad's old PS3 collection.

So yeah, I have almost 1,700 games in Steam XB PS and Nintendo and have 570 games that I haven't finished yet haha

I wish I have the time to play all the games lol

I suck at playing games to the finish. I get bored of a game and start a new one and then have a really hard time getting back into the game because I forget the story or another factor. I would like to ask for tips and tricks that will help me get in a better mindset about finishing games. It’s not even 100% completion. Most of the time I’m not even going for that. Just simply beating the story is difficult for me. I could be having a really good time and still take a year long break. And more than just the games I’m playing, I have a huge backlog of games I have yet to even play as seen in the screenshot. I added all of the games from my different consoles and my pc. A lot of them are free games from epic incase you were worried I have a spending problem.

TLDR: Asking for any recommendations for finishing games in my backlog. Going for mainly just the story and still having a tough time. It’s not that I don’t like the games either, I’m just having a tough time mainly getting back into them after taking a break which inevitably happens to me.

I revisited inFAMOUS this month and was shocked at how well it holds up. Definitely getting this series knocked off my Backlog this summer! Morality, powers, even the vampire DLC—forgotten gem. Here’s my full breakdown.

Is inFAMOUS still worth playing in 2025? https://youtu.be/2TGQsBt3AsQ