January 2024
The (Video Game) Backlog Chronicles
In November 2023 I randomly watched these two videos:
A Misguided Guide To Finishing Your Gaming Backlog
How I Finished My Gaming Backlog (One Year Later)
Just like that, a fire was lit under my ass.
Before these videos, in the summer of 2023, I endeavored to build something wild: Aspen’s Games to Play Before R.I.P. Macabre to be sure, but there’s some motivation there, right? Well, I scoured top game lists and consulted friends to find two things: the best rated games and the most important games. Often, not one and the same. I was willing to suffer through an old Atari game if it meant understanding something about the history of video games and their evolution. This list was filled to the brim with prestige. I was giddy thinking about the person I would be having had played all of these games. Or, maybe, who I would be *saying* I had played all of these games.
And, well, I didn’t do it.
Once I found those two videos, I had a whole new perspective. I was doing it all wrong – at least at first. I was prioritizing what other people wanted. What an imagined community of high-society video analysts would view as “valid” to play. I think we all feel these pressures to a certain extent, which would be fine if it was about playing the games. Unfortunately these feelings often bleed into: finishing games we don’t like and placing too much pressure on playing them, which ruins our natural experience in the game.
So, I decided to make a list of games I wanted to play. Yes, there are many AAA, standout titles. But there are hour-long indies and awful skinnerbox or licensed games. The most important takeaway is: I want to play them. Using Daryl Talks Games Google Sheet template, I have ratings for my excitement, and nothing has below a 7/10 on that list. It’s still over 70 games! Plenty to pass the time.
In those videos, Daryl imposes a one-year timeline to finish the backlog. I am doing no such thing. However, I got lucky(?) and had surgery in December of 2023 and tool one-month off of school/work. In this time I built my list and begin tearing into it.
This series will log any revelations I have while overcoming psychological and skill blocks to just play some damn good video games!
🤔Game Selection Methodology
🤬Changing Views on Difficulty