How do I get through my gaming backlog?

Dear Mother,

I suspect this will be a common affliction among your readership, but my gaming backlog is quite extensive. Between Steam sales, Humble Bundles, giveaways, etc. my PC backlog is sizeable on its own, and then I've got console backlogs too. Not to mention the huge pile of retro games I feel like I should play. Do you have any advice for managing this seemingly overwhelming task?

Thanks,
Buried by the Backlog

Dear Buried,

I agree that this may be the foremost gamer woe of our times, except perhaps for the affordability crisis. Which is great news, actually, because the backlog problem is the "solution" to the affordability problem. Can't afford new games? Just play an older one!

Deep discounts on older games are how most of us end up with our backlogs in the first place, though. Or maybe it's because you've been playing video games for a long time, and you've bought new games with every intention of playing them "soon," except now they've aged into old games that you didn't even manage to get on sale. That can feel really bad.

I'm not sure if this is the case for you, but I have the same problem with books, movies, TV shows, and so on. Video games are a time-consuming hobby, but it's not like it's that much easier with every other form of media. There's so much great art out there, and there's a ton of it that was made long before I was born that I still want to experience for myself.