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So many great games to play and so little time – we’ve all been there, especially when the holiday shopping spree is over. If the growing list of must-play games in your library stresses you out, we’re here to help. Just read our list of 6 useful tips to reduce your gaming backlog in the upcoming months!

1. Slow down
Like an ancient wise man said once (and all life coaches since) – a big journey consists of small steps. It may sound a bit strange, but maybe you’re trying too hard to finish all the cool titles you own. Instead of rushing into games, and being frustrated by the lack of progress, try a more systematic approach. Shortening your gaming sessions may help them become more satisfying. There’s really nothing chasing you here. For example, if you spend an hour a day with one title that needs 10 hours to finish, you can beat it in just 2 weeks.



2. Start with shorter games
Another popular saying states that you should always tackle obstacles from their easier side. If your gaming backlog keeps growing, start chipping away at it by choosing to play the shorter, easier titles first. Just visit sites like HowLongToBeat and make a list of owned games in order of their length. After beating shorter titles, you can take on the longer, more elaborate ones without having to dwell on the other games you still haven’t finished.

3. Find a co-op friend
One of the popular bits of advice to all gym-avoiders is to take a friend with you. Many activities are more fun when enjoyed in bigger groups, so check if the game you’ve been avoiding for some time has a co-op mode. Even if you invite your friend for a gaming session just once a week, it will still help you take down overdue titles in a social and very enjoyable way.



4. Use tools to keep order
Make your gaming life easier by creating a convenient, easy-to-access list of games to finish. Apps like GOG GALAXY let you add bookmarks to your game collection across all platforms. Just create a bookmark titled “The Pile of Shame”… just kidding – “Games to Play” (let’s remember to stay positive), and watch as it gets smaller with each day.

5. Give your favorites a break
We all have them – games that are evergreen, ones that we love to return to from time to time. Well, if we want to make that game to-do list disappear, those darlings will have to sit in the back row for a bit. It’s time to open up to new experiences and, let’s be honest, those golden oldies aren’t going anywhere, right?



6. Take it easy
Ask yourself, do you want to beat a specific game quickly or do you just want to explore its lore and story. If the second answer is the correct one, you can just as easily choose “easy” or “story mode” in the difficulty section and simply have fun. If the game really draws you in, you can always revisit it in “nightmare mode” in the future.

How about you? Do you have any games that you wish to finally play and finish in the upcoming months? Write about them in the comment section below, and remember – fresh or overdue, the main goal of playing every game is to have fun!
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amok: for some strange reason, "stop buying games for a while" is not on the list
See the gaps between paragraphs? Between 1-2, 3-4, 5-6. Let us imagine that...

The first gap suggested that it might be OK to stop buying games if you are still having fun with what you got.
The second gap mentioned that it is OK to stay away from games for a while now and them.
The third gap mentioned that it is good to keep a balance between playing games and other activities.

At least the writer left the gaps as a suggestive clue, after they were deleted under editorial order.

:3
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mrkgnao: Can you import your GOG library, or do you need to enter it all manually?
I think the creator was considering that option for the new version of the site, but can't say for sure if that option was abandoned or not.
Right now, it's all manually done (which I personally like).
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wolfsite: I hope it' can import.... doing my library manually would be so long I would have to put it in my backlog to work on other games.
The initial work is great if you have a lot of games, that is true.
But, once that is done, it's a super pleasurable cruise. ;)

When I was doing my "v1.0 backlog" as my guide I used the great words of famous Henry Ford "Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.". I was entering about 50 games per day and didn't even feel the "burden" of creating the starting list.
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mrkgnao: Can you import your GOG library, or do you need to enter it all manually?
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BranjoHello: I think the creator was considering that option for the new version of the site, but can't say for sure if that option was abandoned or not.
Right now, it's all manually done (which I personally like).
I would not trust my GOG account to any site. Even if they are not involved in malpractice, they might have a breach in security. Even, Dropbox has had security breaches already.
Post edited January 11, 2021 by Carradice
low rated
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amok: for some strange reason, "stop buying games for a while" is not on the list
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Carradice: See the gaps between paragraphs? Between 1-2, 3-4, 5-6. Let us imagine that...

The first gap suggested that it might be OK to stop buying games if you are still having fun with what you got.
The second gap mentioned that it is OK to stay away from games for a while now and them.
The third gap mentioned that it is good to keep a balance between playing games and other activities.

At least the writer left the gaps as a suggestive clue, after they were deleted under editorial order.

:3
yeah pretty okay suggestions

6. take it easy
imho no dont take it easy or journalist difficulty , if you want those you should not get games but visual novels or kojima walking sim with 90% cutscenes gamethou
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Carradice: I would not trust my GOG account to any site.
I don't like linking accounts in general. That's why I use Galaxy for GOG games only, for example.
Until there is one "SkyNet" to rule us all, I'm happy with no linking anything if I don't have to.
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Orkhepaj: 6. take it easy
imho no dont take it easy or journalist difficulty
LOL
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mrkgnao: Can you import your GOG library, or do you need to enter it all manually?
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BranjoHello: I think the creator was considering that option for the new version of the site, but can't say for sure if that option was abandoned or not.
Right now, it's all manually done (which I personally like).
Thanks, but I'm too old for that.

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BranjoHello: I think the creator was considering that option for the new version of the site, but can't say for sure if that option was abandoned or not.
Right now, it's all manually done (which I personally like).
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Carradice: I would not trust my GOG account to any site. Even if they are not involved in malpractice, they might have a breach in security. Even, Dropbox has had security breaches already.
You don't need to give your GOG account in order to import your library. MaGog had an option to import both your library and your wishlist without any need for that, simply by supporting copy-paste.

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amok: for some strange reason, "stop buying games for a while" is not on the list
That's because there's a dedicated thread about that. ;^)
Post edited January 11, 2021 by mrkgnao
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DukeNukemForever: If you're on windows I also recommend to check out Playnite (https://playnite.link) as a video game library manager, as the implementation of other services works flawless and all your data is local.
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Orkhepaj: have you tried this out? is it as good as gog galaxy?
btw https://gg.deals is good site for comparing prices , wishlist , price history and price alerts , i check the game out here if i buy one sometimes
Yes, but I use it only since a few weeks, so I just wanted to give more like a remark and not a recommendation. The main reason to use Galaxy in my eyes is if you want install your GOG games easier and if you are on a mac (Playnite is windows only so far). Galaxy has also a downloader for the offline installer integrated, but that one is not working well for me (especially in comparison to the old installer). When it comes to other services (itch.io, steam, etc) Playnite is in my eyes the better solution, as it's faster and stable (steam extension of galaxy breaks from time to time, so you need to delete files to get it run again, which is annoying. Playnite has in my eyes also much better filter options.
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BranjoHello: I think the creator was considering that option for the new version of the site, but can't say for sure if that option was abandoned or not.
Right now, it's all manually done (which I personally like).
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Carradice: I would not trust my GOG account to any site. Even if they are not involved in malpractice, they might have a breach in security. Even, Dropbox has had security breaches already.
I don't use backloggery, but other sites like isthereanydeal.com just use your public profile sites to grab your game library and wishlists. Only game library managers like Galaxy or Playnite need login access informations. If you want to use them I highly recommend to use two-factor authentication for all your linked accounts.
Post edited January 11, 2021 by DukeNukemForever
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GOG.com: If the growing list of must-play games in your library stresses you out, we’re here to help. Just read our list of 6 useful tips to reduce your gaming backlog in the upcoming months!
0. Don't let anyone suggest you to buy more must-play games! :P

If only the sale wouldn't contain interesting games... :D
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Carradice: I would not trust my GOG account to any site. Even if they are not involved in malpractice, they might have a breach in security. Even, Dropbox has had security breaches already.
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DukeNukemForever: I don't use backloggery, but other sites like isthereanydeal.com just use your public profile sites to grab your game library and wishlists. Only game library managers like Galaxy or Playnite need login access informations, for if you want to use them I highly recommend to use two-factor authentication.
Interesting. Using a public profile, might be fine. Especially if the other site does not need to access to the information in the profile all the time (meaning, this allows opening the profile for the site and then setting it back to private). For the other sites, giving login access information is a no-no.
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The-Business: 7. Accept that you don't have to play every game you own. But you still have the option if digital distribution stops.
That's the best piece of advice I've seen.
I got few cheap (1-10 dollar range) through the decade and some of them weren't that good despite first impression.
The bad part is that when you finally have time to play certain games... you no longer like them. Happened to me with few games, from certain genres.

Most of the time I play game for few days (best case would be 2 weeks almost non-stop) and then drop them, which would be against backlog program, where you want to finish game asap and scratch them from the list.
Post edited January 11, 2021 by SpecShadow
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GOG.com: If the growing list of must-play games in your library stresses you out, we’re here to help. Just read our list of 6 useful tips to reduce your gaming backlog in the upcoming months!
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eiii: 0. Don't let anyone suggest you to buy more must-play games! :P
00. Beware the hype!

Hype is the mind-killer. Hype is the blindness that brings total disillusionment. I will face hype. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the hype has gone there will be nothing.
Funny you mentioned that - this is something I have been thinking about for some time now - as time goes by (and we are getting older) there are more and more titles which we don´t have time playing.

And I also like to return to tried and tested classics from time to time.

Precisely for all these reasons I always have installed only one game - when I have more than 1, my attention is scattered and I am not doing much progress, worse even, games start to bore me, even though they are objectively good.

If I have one game, I focus on it, enjoy it, and try to see and do maximum reasonable story content, there is (I hate "collect feather number #157" a lá Assassins' Creed, those I skip) - yes I am an explorationst.
So it usually takes me long time to finish a game, but when I do, it´s party time :D - I rejoice at the end of the journey just as I enjoyed walking on it :)

Then I usually need few days to decide what to play next - I usually switch genres so that I am not playing two games of the same genre after each other, so the exhaustion by the genre wouldn´t set in.

But after a few days I usually know very well what I want to play, and I install it.
If it is an older game, I will mod it (HD textures + widescreen patch), preferably without gameplay changing additions, unless the game itself is broken and never was properly patched (I am looking at you, Temple of Elemental Evil or Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines).

I never went wrong with this approach and frankly can never understood those who had many games installed, but never played neither of them or very little.

Beside the point: when I saw the title of this article, I thought there will be some filtering tips&tricks for those of us who have huge backlogs :D
Post edited January 11, 2021 by Tarhiel
GOG giving info on how to manage our backlogs, eh?
Pretty much like going to murder king to get some health tips ;)

AND OH, last but not least, here's our weekly sale: must play games ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Post edited January 11, 2021 by victorchopin
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BranjoHello: Best tool for keeping track of your backlog:
https://backloggery.com/

Been using it for 9 and a half years, so you can call me a very satisfied user. :)

The creator is (slowly) working on complete overhaul of the site for some time now. It may happen tomorrow, it may happen in 5 years, it may never happen.
The site is super fine as it is, but if it can become even better, that would be a welcome change of course.
The most important thing is that if the overhaul ever happens all of user data would be transferred automatically, so "old customers" like myself don't have to worry about their "tidy efforts" being thrown into the "recycle bin". :D
Yeah, I've been using it for about that length of time too. It's quite nice to look back at all the games you finished in the last year.