The Backlog Reckoning

The VividGamer workbook for a pile of games that keeps growing: see what it really takes to clear, cut it to size, and keep it there

Adding up the hours to beat your backlog and dividing by a daily pace assumes two things: that you play every day, and that nothing new arrives. Sales, bundles, free monthly games and subscription catalogs break the second one every month. The Backlog Reckoning adds the missing line. Part 1 lists the whole pile, measures your real week, counts the hours of new games arriving (in the worked example, 458 hours at a real 8 hours a week with 30 new hours a month takes about 8 years to clear), prices the unplayed shelf and each subscription per hour played, and cuts the pile until play beats inflow. Part 2 sets a buying rule, a ten-minute monthly check, and a year-in-games list. For players with more games than time; not financial advice. With your purchase comes a personalised sheet showing whether your own pile can clear.

Look inside

Two full pages from the workbook, exactly as printed. Click either to read it at full size before you decide.

What is in it

• Listing the whole pile, hours and price
• Your real week, measured
• Counting the games that arrive each month
• The money on the shelf
• Subscriptions priced per hour played
• The cut: shelve until play beats inflow
• A buying rule, a monthly check and the year in games
• The pile list, monthly check and subscription audit
• Bonuses: a quickstart, the buying card and a year-in-games page
• A personalised sheet: whether your pile can clear

The workbook complements the free Gaming Time Calculator. It totals the pile at a daily pace; the workbook adds the games arriving each month and whether the pile can ever clear.