In
this era of Steam sales and Humble Bundles, we’ve all got one- 100
games for the price of a fart, and even though you only really wanted
two of them, those other games are probably fun too, right? Trouble
is, another bundle comes along, and another sale comes along, and
then comes that 100-hour RPG you’ve been waiting eagerly for… and
suddenly your backlog of games is choking your library. You scroll
through on occasion, having completely forgotten what 90% of the
games even are, convinced that you’ll get to them one day, some
day… eventually.
There’s
no doubt that among these games, there’s a lot of fun to be had.
Some of them might be hidden gems just waiting for their chance to
become your Game Of The Year, or at least a fun diversion well worth
the asking price of 20 cents. On the other hand, you know some of
these games probably aren’t really your thing- but you don’t want
to judge them without trying them first… even though you know
you’re never going to try them, with so many more interesting games
to choose from.
The
BBacklog Challenge is aimed at getting these backlogs whittled down
and cleared out. Here’s how it works:
1.
List your backlog. The whole damn thing. Dust off your Humble Bundle
keys, open that Steam account you haven’t dared look at for three
years, gaze in bewilderment at all the second-hand console games
you’ve bought. Put them in a numbered list, ordered however you
wish.
2.
Either ask for a nomination from your peers, or just use a
dice-roller to pick a game from the list. (If you’ve been asked to
nominate a game for someone, why not pick something you’ve never
heard of? Give those unknown titles a chance in the spotlight!)
3.
Within 7 days of choosing your game, you must give it one solid hour
of play. After playing for an hour, it’s time to write a short
blurb about it. Here’s the most important part of the challenge:
Give
a quick description of the game, a few things that were cool and some
things that sucked. If you really hated the game, feel free to tear
it to shreds. At the end of your review, decide whether to Fin It or
Bin It.
‘Fin(ish)
It’ means you’ll add the game to your current rotation until
you’ve finished it. ‘Finishing’ a game is a hard thing to
define, and it differs from one person to another. For the purposes
of this challenge, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to complete
it 100%- putting the game on your Fin list simply means you’ll play
the game until you’re satisfied you’ve done everything you want
to do.
‘Bin
It’ means you remove the game from your backlog, and consider it
done with. Breathe a sigh of relief as the burden of that game is
lifted from your shoulders. You need never again feel like you didn’t
give the game it’s due- you played it, you weren’t impressed,
time to spend your gaming hours on something you do want to play.
Binning
a game doesn’t necessarily mean you think it’s bad! There’s
going to be a lot of games that are well-made experiences that would
probably be enjoyable to some people, but simply aren’t your kind
of game. That’s fine! Mention that in your write-up and leave a
link for other people who might think the game does sound
interesting.
Either
way, that’s one item off your backlog, and you get to roll again!
The
ideal end result is you’ll end up playing some games you might
otherwise never have made time for, along the way discovering
unexpected new favourites, and sharing those faves with other people
who end up enjoying them too. If you do it once a week for a year,
you’ll get 50 games off your backlog, and just in time for the
Steam Winter Sales to fill your list up again with games other people
have recommended!