I have a laundry list of video games that I’ve bought with the immediate expectation that I would play it right then and there. Like any avid reader has a TBR list (To Be Read), I have a game shelf with a lot of TBP (To Be Played) games. And I just added another one to it.

In recent years, I’ve tried to play one newer game and an older game before going back to playing nostalgic ones. Yet sometimes, I still go back to my favorites: The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask, Tales of Symphonia, Resident Evil 4, Smash Bros, etc.

Still, with an ever-growing list of games I’ve never played, it becomes far easier to get overwhelmed by the list of recreational games you wanted to finish. This ties directly to my efforts as a writer because I wanted to start reading more to better familiarize myself with the writing process and format. I have a ton of books to be read, and I’ve been collecting new ones as time goes on. I’ve begun whittling away at the books on my list, and in the same vein I’m trying to whittle away at the list of games I promised myself I’d play. But I have to be careful: if playing games becomes a chore, then it sucks away the fun of enjoying the game.

Recently, I played through the game Shantae: Risky Revolution. It’s a retro game that came out last year in 2025, and I had it in my queue since the start of 2026. I finally played through it in the span of a week. It was satisfying, but I did feel like there were a couple of times I was playing just to get through the story. By the end of the game, I was happy with the results, and the satisfaction of finishing a game I’d promised myself I’d play was immense. I’m glad I did it.

To reward myself, I bought a game I’d been considering playing for a long while. It’s an indie game called Stray, where you play a cat in a post-apocolyptic world. There was a sale going for the physical cartridge for my Switch, so I opted to buy it as a reward. Now I’m looking forward to play this game! I mean: a cat as the protagonist? An exploration-based adventure game? I’m looking forward to playing this one.

Once I’ve finished Stray, I plan to go back to my library and pick a PS4 game that I haven’t started. I’m currently leaning toward the Star Wars game Jedi: Fallen Order. I’ve been looking forward to it, and I have a used copy. I need to make sure it works.

I’m going to eventually look into Twitch productions to see what legal hoops I need to jump through, because one of the things I’d like to start doing to produce videos is to do game nights where I record myself playing an older game in my collection. I’ve got games from the PS2 era that I still haven’t played. I think there’s a Wii game called Dangerous Creatures I bought where you play as a tarantula and as a scorpion in the desert. They’re weird and they sound like fun. It would be a great opportunity to create content by forcing myself to play these games. Maybe I’ll recruit a buddy or two to help me. We’ll see.

The moral of this ramble? Enjoy your favorite pastimes, and don’t trick yourself into making them a form of work as well. Find a way to look forward to it if you’re struggling to do so.