How to Manage a Steam Library

[simmysims]

I have 250+ games that only grows more and more as games go on sale for $2.50 every week. Now I have that problem of only completed or got totally annoyed with about 20% of them and I can't focus on one game.

I pick an RPG and play for a bit then get bored with the ho-hum combat and know there's 35 actions games in my library waiting for me. If I make the switch the action game's story is crap and there's a bunch of RPG's waiting for me.

I even tried making a desktop icon for the one singleplayer game, the couple multiplayer games and that one tiny indie quick session fun game I play so I don't even see my backlog but it still doesn't work. Plus I'm buying a new game and get excited about the new game but there's still the 170 or so games I haven't even downloaded yet. It also doesn't help I have a fulltime job and a wife that wants to do stuff on the weekends. No baby, thankfully.

I fear I'm not enjoying any game like I used to in my childhood when I was too poor to afford anything and got really REALLY into the few I had. I recently played through Prototype and thought it was kind of dumb. Would I like it better if I wasn't thinking of all the games I could be playing right now?

In conclusion, how do you manage your backlog. I'm betting most of you have a Steam backlog, it's hard not to. I even considered making a new account and buying games one at a time but I don't want to waste the money I've already sunk into my current account and I don't want to miss a game I wouldn't normally buy for full price but don't mind picking up for 75% off. Guacamelee was not a game I'd buy but for $2.50 I did and now I have Flame Face as my desktop wallpaper.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

A few things I like to do.

I use the site Backloggery. There's a decent amount of stuff there, but mostly what I like to use it for is compiling a list of all of the games I have that I'm interested in completing. It's just a nice way to keep track of everything, and there's a handful of games that I would have completely forgotten about if I didn't put them on here.

I generally don't worry about finishing every game I buy, especially ones in bundles. I try most of them out, but if I play for an hour and don't really enjoy it, I'll just play something else and not worry about it. I don't have the time to play everything, so I'm not going to worry about the stuff that I'm not having fun with. Also, I definitely don't have the time to finish 80 hour RPGs along with the other stuff I want to play, so I try not to get too sad if I don't get through those, or if it takes me a long time.

Be careful with sales. One of the key things to remember about sales is that everything will be on sale for just as much again. Therefore, there's no reason to pick something up unless you're actually intending on playing it in the near future. That's not to say don't buy stuff you otherwise wouldn't get, just don't pick something up just because it's on sale. This is probably the biggest reason that my library is actually manageable.

Also, from my understanding (haven't played it myself), Prototype is kind of a mediocre game, so your lack of enjoyment probably doesn't come from other stuff you could be playing.

 

[baddude1337]

I'm absolutely terrible at managing mine. Most recently I really wanted to play Rouge Legacy and sucked I didn't have enough money to get it, then realising that I already in fact had the game, installed and sitting in my library of 210 games. >_>

I'd like a way to sort games by playtime or date last played, so I can see which games I have not played and therefore should give a go.

 

[Something Amyss]

I'm absolutely terrible at managing mine. Most recently I really wanted to play Rouge Legacy and sucked I didn't have enough money to get it, then realising that I already in fact had the game, installed and sitting in my library of 210 games. >_>

I'd like a way to sort games by playtime or date last played, so I can see which games I have not played and therefore should give a go.

If you right-click a game and select "set category," you can set them into various categories to find easily.

In fact, I should really do this so I can sort out the crap I got from Humble Bundles I'll never play from the stuff I want to play. Otherwise, I see Avernum and company and just think "Oh, I don't want to play that" and go back to Magic or Civ.

 

[Poetic Nova]

A few things I like to do.

I use the site Backloggery. There's a decent amount of stuff there, but mostly what I like to use it for is compiling a list of all of the games I have that I'm interested in completing. It's just a nice way to keep track of everything, and there's a handful of games that I would have completely forgotten about if I didn't put them on here.

Mhm, might check it out myself, while my library of PC games isn't that huge it might come in handy.

 

[Easton Dark]

Also, from my understanding (haven't played it myself), Prototype is kind of a mediocre game, so your lack of enjoyment probably doesn't come from other stuff you could be playing.

Prototype is awesome. The bosses are the mediocre part. Best super-power game last gen.

For the backlog, you choose 1 game to play to completion, and have 3 others you can fall back to.

I recently finished System Shock 2. In the times I didn't feel like continuing, I had League, Assassin's Creed 4, and Natural Selection 2 to fill niches, none of which require you to play very long to accomplish things.

It only took 10 hours to beat SS2. If you put your mind to your games, you can clear out quite a few of them within a week. Rarely would modern games take that long.

 

[Vivi22]

I mostly just toss the stuff I'm currently playing, or the things I'm known to fire up semi-regularly in my favourites and everything else is not in my favourites. I always use the small mode view, so I just resize the window to only show what I'm playing. Half the time I forget what else I have until I get a sudden craving to play it, or scroll through looking for something else to play.

That and I don't buy new games unless I have the time to spend playing them for a bit. It's a wild idea, I know, but I really don't have an issue with sales. And lately I almost ignore sales entirely until my steam wallet gets up to a decent amount from selling Counter-Strike:GO weapon skins and crates. I honestly funded my last three purchases by just selling CS items on the community market. Aside from new games I'm chomping at the bit to play I might never bother spending my own money again.