Between Steam and GoG, I have over 1300 games. It does feel overwhelming at times.

My backlog is currently at 814 games. The way I keep myself from getting decision paralysis is that I grab a bunch of them as a batch to play and make sure that there is a bit of everything. If I wanted to play an RPG specifically, I would have six games to choose from, which is a lot more manageable than the 129 RPGs that I actually have to play.

Can't imagine people would buy that many magazines or manga without intending to read them soon after. Paintings are hard to compare, and pictures on phone/camera are a rather weird example (although you can definitely have too many photos, if you choose quantity over quality). Movies though - definitely. I used to record a lot of movies on VHS without ever finding the time or mood to watch them, and I also bought cheap discounted DVDs of movies I already knew and then never watched them again. Actually, that was worse than collecting digital videogames though, because it took aways space and the discs and cassettes gathered dust.

Depends. There's some things with multiple uses for. D&D books, tech manuals, etc...

When i mentioned magazines i was thinking adult ones. Playboy, Hustler, Sports Illustrated, etc... Ones you probably get, flip through and then put away never to be looked at again probably...

Why weird? You don't glance at your phone and see you have 20,000 photos? From multiple takes of a guy on a horse and then cropping it, to what you had for lunch, or what you saw on sale at the garage sale to your friends to see if they needed something? To images brought in from Messenger/Telegram, to wallpapers you added at the start but never use?

I read it on reddit: "Buying games and playing games are separate hobbies".
Maybe this helps to get different pov on your gaming collection.

Also: you could necro this thread to free your gamer soul:
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/official_stop_buying_games_selfhelp_group/page1

If i can not decide what to play next...i always choose the "next one". Just KIS. ;-)

Pfft. Too many games? Sounds like to me you have too little time instead. ;)

With a few exceptions, I tend to remember the games that I own and my backlog is quite large. The games that I don't remember owning are probably purchases I shouldn't have made (even if they were discounted 80%+). I guess it depends on the kind of exposure to games you had. For me, replaying the same game over and over when I'm near perfect at it is stagnation.

Occasionally, I'll revisit a game I really liked when it's been a while and I'm starting to forget the little details or if I have friends over and I know a specific game is a blast to play with other people (quality options for local multiplayer tends to be more limited), but that's about it.

I grew up renting a different game every weekend and I get the most out of my gaming when I'm constantly adapting to a new game and struggling to master it.

I figure out the kind of game I'd like to play (in broad strokes) and then find a game that fits.

Otherwise, my backlog is not all equal. In various categories, there are always certain games that I look forward to playing more.

Sometimes, when I'm badly overworked, I don't feel like doing much (including gaming), but I just force myself to do it anyways and get more into it once I've started. Its as if the intensity of work have knocked the pleasure parts of my brain out of kilt and I need to figure out again how to have fun.

Imho, we live in a culture of extremes. Either you're out of work or you're worked to the bone. It's like that in software development at least. They'll pat you on the back when you start, but once they've gotten used to what you can provide, whatever you give is never quite enough. You could always give just a little more. So, at some point, you got to put on the breaks yourself, because there is always an implicit pressure to give more (the next deadline, the next urgent thing, it never ends). Anyways, I disgress.

If you have too many games, considering donating half of them to poor blind disabled kids at the local orphanage.

better solution, send me all money and i ll buy games for you when you finished the owned ones

Yeah, you might laugh now, but you won't laugh tomorrow when you are in a similar situation!

It is nice to pick a game from your personal library that you've been meaning to play for a long time, but not so nice when playing it stalls for a reason or another. Like is the case for Planescape Torment for me at the moment. I'm still at the start, and I am yet to understand its alleged greatness, but I presume it will open up for me if I just keep playing...

Maybe my main problem is that I tend to pick RPGs mostly, and then I fret whether or not I am playing them optimally, and start reading FAQs and even walkthroughs and then it starts to feel too much like work, "studying" how I should play a game... Like, somehow I only now realized that apparently different discussion paths and options in PS:T don't just affect the story, but may affect also your character's traits?!? Like, if I am snarky and negative with my responses, it may actually change my character that way? Or if I am polite to even my enemies, will my character become a wimpy ass that everyone walks over?

Gawd, I should have started playing some FPS or RTS instead, like the Bioshock series or Supreme Commander...

yep, and they will never find out you donated the bad ones ,like visual novels or furry dating sims

This is where online MP games shine. You'll never be the best at it and it's a good way to maintain your skills. Unless you've given up on it.

why do you keep buying them then?

True, I've done a bit of that, but it's a huge time sink and there's quite a bit of peer pressure to keep playing, sometimes at times that are inconvenient to your schedule. Anyways, that was my experience with Utopia, though that might have been an extreme.