So many games to play, so little time. Sometimes, you spend more time perusing your games, or games you do not own yet, or maybe writing in the forum, than playing. The huge backlog adds pressure, as probably there will be games that won't get a fair chance. Sounds familiar?

So, how do you deal with that?

I probably have more games to play than I have time to fully explore before I die. But so what? That's true of all sorts of things from books to TV to hikes I could go on.

Some games I own aren't even for me. They are for when people visit and I want to have something to play that I think they would like.

Having a bunch of them is not really a problem. It just allows for a nice choice of selection when I'm in the mood to play one. Because it's a subject you are interested in. Some people follow politics even though they have no political office. Or sports even though they don't personally play. It's just an interest. I think it's fine.

Very familiar. Just the other day I looked over my wishlist of 134 titles (and that's just GOG), and realised there's no way I will ever actually play them all. Probably not even most of them. And that's without my backlog, which is probably very small compared to some big spenders/collectors, but is still considerable enough in terms of combined hours it will take to get through it. And then there are all the games I already finished once but would like to replay... I wouldn't exactly call it "pressure", but it does irk me.

And that's me, with, relatively, tons of free time. How people who actually have a life get through any games I honestly have no clue. Maybe that's why online games with no actual story and ending are so popular.

Anyway, I don't really have much in terms of advice. You just have to play whatever you feel like, ignore any bullshit such as hype, and don't hesitate to ditch a game like an expired taco if it's boring or more annoying than fun. And don't buy stuff you're not actually likely to play in near future.

Also, and this isn't advice, but personally I'm thinking of embracing the easy mode to get through some games. There are some titles in my backlog, like Fallout 2, that I am very curious about, but I just don't think I'll ever have the time and patience these days to play thorugh otherwise. But I don't want to "cheat" myself out of the proper experience, so I don't know.

Just release the pressure (no pun intended).

Just don't think about it.

*shrug* Try not to care about it. At the rate I play, have enough games till my old age, if I'll live that long, and at the rate freebies are being offered, plus actual free games that are out there, just picking the interesting ones ensures I'll never finish them.
Do have something of a priority order, first split between actual backlog and uncertain, then a very rough idea about which ones from the backlog category I'd want to play more, and also which ones I'd be likely to finish faster and which ones I believe I'd get far more involved in.

Though, of course, the first limitation is the hardware, and on 32-bit Win 7 and an old Pentium G3440 and its integrated graphics, most of my backlog is unavailable, which simplifies matters.
And there's also the fact that I have no intention of using a newer version of Windows when I will finally need to change this computer, so thinking of Linux (if only...) and I tried to make a quick list of backlogged games that can be played on this computer but don't have either a native Linux version or a gold or platinum rating listed on the WINE site, to try to prioritize playing those next. But it's just sort of at the back of my mind, not really a deciding factor.
Do see games that clearly require Win 10+ and don't seem to do well on Linux either as sort of just there, thinking that I may well never be able to play them. And completely fine with that as well.

I'd think https://www.protondb.com/ would be a better source to check a game's compatibility on Linux than the WINE site.

Same type of paralysis when you see how much work a room needs to be cleaned or a project to finish. Yeah, stressful.

I would say, grab some Youtuber you like and watch their top 10 or 100 or something games list, and once you see a fun game you feel like playing, stop and go start playing that game.

Actually, ProJared started a channel of Now in the 90's, where it's games released 30 years ago during that week; Might start watching that, and if you see from one of the 15 games mentioned in a given week and find what genre or game that tickles your fancy, i'd go with that.

Had no idea about that, and being Steam-related, have a knee-jerk bad reaction to it. And wouldn't be sure that it's generally applicable. Same. Or books, or TV series, or...

I rule by psychokinetic power !!!!!!!!

uhm, what i mean is. Organisation. I have like 20 games in rotation which atm is working out quite well. Must have took the better part of 20 years to develop.... slow learner etc.

You can do it too!

I Believe in you!?! ?

My digital library includes approximately:

Steam === 4240 games (at 4000 i received my badge - AMBASSADOR OF AMASSMENT)
GOG === 443
Epic === 300
Amazon === 200
Others === 200

I see no problem with this at all :)

It generally is. And Proton is open source. So, you can run a build of proton thru Lutris if you want instead of the Steam client. Anyway the protondb website tends to be more active and up to date and of course focused on games compared to WINEHQ.

Some suggestions for you:

Make plans and schedules.
Track your time.
Evaluate your progress.
Identify problems and hindrances.
Install a quality management system. (Get an ISO 9001 certification!)
Shed all worldly commitments.

That way you will soon establish a hyper-efficient non-stop self-optimizing gaming routine.
You are welcome. :-)

---
(Hey, why do I sound like an AI chat bot now? Hm...)

Oh, I don't really let it bother me.

I just finish the game latter when i feel like it and decide so, but it always surprised me how close to the end i stopped playing only to return much latter to finish it very fast since close to ending.
Those extra long games do bother me as morrowind being the worst offender haven't finished it always there are some new mods like openmw and had to restart and simply left it as i almost completed it with morrowind code patch but then i didn't know it's settings and i replayed morrowind several times without beating it and changing pcs.
Yeah i just play games for fun but i really don't care about backlog much, since i like to play different games.
I do sometimes struggle to choose a game to play so somedays i won't play a game and do other things and when i feel like it i play some games. And i do like to try several new games.

This year for now i've beaten 5 games and last year the number was also 5 but even further back i didn't write it down the year.
I beat 83 games on gog for now. There are also other games i've beaten on sega mega drive close to 200 and rpg maker games think the number is 66, don't know the number of other pc only beaten games since i wasn't writing down before. Can't remember every game name i played on pc.
Steam i only beat half life 2 and it's episodes and the first portal game also hybris pulse of ruin and sonic adventure dx.