How To Organize Your Video Game Collection & Manage Your Backlog
Are you struggling to manage your video game collection? Do you have games from multiple storefronts? Read on to find out how you can organise them and track your achievements & progress
I recently got back into playing computer games and it surprised me how quickly my collection has grown, it’s now at the point where it’s becoming a bit unmanageable.
While Steam is a great place for keeping track of your games what happens with all the other game stores you might be using like Epic and EA?
In this article we’ll looks at some simple tools to track your collection, keep an eye on what you want to play next as well as a complete game management and launching systems.
Video Game Trackers
If you’re want to keep a simple list of the games you own then check out these tools:
VGCollect
VGCollect is a clean and simple way to track your computer games collection. You can add basic information about the game including box art, disc art, and basic game data like publication dates, barcode, release dates and more.
The database is crowd sourced by its members and if you want to grab a copy of your data you can easily export it to a spreadsheet.
You can add a game to your collection, add it to a wishlist, flag it as currently playing or add it to your backlog (a list of games you want to play).
I noticed that some of the data was a bit out of data – for example Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II has only been added on Steam and not the Battlet.net platform but it’s relatively simple to add new content if you wish.
Completionator
Completionator is a slightly more comprehensive tool than VGCollect as it not only allows you to manage your games collection and your game backlog but it also has completion percentage, number of achievements and crowd-sourced completion time data and speed run times (if applicable).
There’s also a section to add playthrough data so you can track when you played the game and how long your gaming sessions were.
The interface is a little basic, for example it would have been nice to have the cover art in the collection list but if you’re looking to track your game play stats at a more granular level then this is a great choice.
Darkadia
Darkadia is a fantastic looking game logging library where all of the games you own are displayed on a “shelf”.
You can add time played, notes, reviews and other data in the free version but you will need to subscribe to the pro version (currently $10/year) if you want to add data for multiple platforms.
It’s not as in-depth as Completionator but it makes up for it in terms of aesthetics.
GG
GG is certainly the most modern looking website on this list but it sacrifices functionality for its looks.
You don’t directly add games to a “collection” with this site, instead you can add them to your wishlist, backlog, add a play status (playing, completed etc.) and GG will automatically add the game to your collection list.
This is a bit confusing as the only way you can see all the games you own is if you have marked them as playing, played or in your backlog. If you have a game in your library and you want to keep track of it but don’t want to put it on your backlog list, even if you add it to a user-created list it won’t appear in your game collection or games list which is a bit of an odd way to organise things.
This site seems to assume that you want to play every game you own so you’ll put it on your backlog or mark it as “shelved” – in other words you’re never going to play it.
The plus side is that GG has an iOS and Android App so you can manage your game backlog on the go.
Grouvee
Grouvee is another modern looking games library that has a lot more user-sourced data than some of the other entries on this list.
Grouvee has the standard collection, backlog and wishlist functionality as well as the ability to add updates to a game while you’re playing it.
You can add basic data about a game such as a rating, a single playthrough entry and notes. It’s not as comprehensive as Completionator but it’s one of the better looking entries on this list.
Backloggery
Backloggery, as the name suggests is more of a backlog management system than a games library but you can use it to track the games you own.
Unlike the other websites on this list, Backloggery doesn’t allow you to search a list of pre-existing games but rather just add your own entries to your Backloggery catalogue.
You can mark that you’re playing a game or, unlike other libraries, that you have “paused” playing which is a nice touch but unlike other solutions here there’s no playthrough tracking but you can add milestones such as “Started” and completed.
Another nice feature is that it will pick a random game from your backlog list to give you something to play next rather than just staring at a long list and not picking anything.
Backloggery is probably the most difficult to use and is certainly aimed people who like stats so if you’re looking for something simple to use this probably isn’t the solution for you.
Gamedeed
I have added Gamedeed to this list for the sake of completely but I have to admit I have had a lot of issues with it.
Firstly, my email address is apparently already registered but I am unable to request to reset my password because no submit buttons seem to work (on multiple browsers). It also shows that you’re online on the website and there appears no way to turn that off so for the privacy conscious that’s something to bear in mind.
I had to log in using Steam in the end – and it would have been handy to have been given the option to import my list of Steam games at this point.
The interface is very confusing and outdated. It took me a good 10 minutes to figure out how to add a game to my library (or “deeds” as they’re called) as it’s not very intuitive. Game data is also populated from Wikipedia so there are no user ratings and you can’t see how many other people own or are playing the game.
The data also isn’t as up-to-date as other sites on this list – it was missing XDefiant for example which was released on the 21st of May 2024 but it’s simple enough to add in a game if you want to.
I do like the way it splits games out into the different statuses like “completed”, “playing”, “uncertain” etc. and progress bars are also a nice touch.
exophase
exophase is a site that allows you to combine data from all of your different gaming services in one handy place. To pull your data into exophase you simply enter your game network username or link your account – note that your game data needs to be available to the public so bear that in mind if you’re concerned about your privacy.
With this site you can see how much time you’ve played each game, track achievements and compare certain stats with other users. You can also manually add a game (assuming it’s in their comprehensive database) and manually track your progress within that games.
As far as I can see there are no lists within exophase so you can’t add games to your “backlog” or filter by games you haven’t started but if you want a way to keep all your game data in one place in a easy to read format then this is definitely the solution for you.
Backloggd
Backloggd has a very clean interface that allows you to see basic game information and how many other people have played it or have it in their backlog queue.
The interface is nice and streamlined and even the newest games have been added.
You can add a short review and rating and there is a “Journal” section that allows to to track time played but I can’t see anywhere to track your overall game progress or achievements.
One thing that I’m not a fan of is the way the interface splits out games into “Played”, “Playing”, and “Backlog”. I can’t see a way to view all my games in one place which would be a nice addition although I suppose you could create an “All Games” list and add every game to that.
HowLongToBeat
I’ve always used HowLongToBeat just to see, well, how long a game should take me to play, I never thought to use it to track my game library as well!
The game details page is a bit bare-bones when you go to add it to your library – there’s no details or user generated reviews for you to see in this view unlike with other items on this list.
There is the nice addition of a timer so you can track how long you’re playing the game without having to figure it out manually but apart from that the interface itself is very bare bones.
There’s no way to track your achievement progress for example, although you can note down times which can be split based on whether you just played the main game, did extra “side quests” or found all extra content and Easter eggs.
If you’re looking for a simple solution then HowLongToBeat might be worth looking that, although an option like exophase might be slightly better if you don’t want to have to manually add time played.
Video Game Launchers
If you just want to have all your games in one place with some basic stats then you’ll want to use a Game Launcher.
A launcher allows you to pull in games from different storefronts such as Epic Games, EA, Ubisoft, Steam and more and display them in a single app so you don’t have to go hunting for a game when you can’t remember what network you downloaded it from.
GOG Galaxy
GOG Galaxy allows you to log in to the various gaming platforms and bring all your games together under one simple interface.
There is basic information such as play time, achievements and you can also compare these stats to your friends as well.
There’s no way to add notes or a review but you can leave a rating out of 5.
You can also manually add games from GOG’s list and link to the EXE file if you wish to be able to open the game from within the GOG launcher. It’s important to note that adding a game manually doesn’t give you the ability to add playthroughs, time played or achievements earned.
Playnite
Playnite is an open source video game manager which allows you to bring all your storefronts together in one combined list.
The interface isn’t as intuitive as GOG Galaxy, for example if you wish to access game information such as the description and play time you need to be in list mode – I couldn’t find a way to view this data from the grid mode.
Things like seeing achievements aren’t available in the basic install of the app, however there are user-built addons that allows you to extend the functionality of Playnite although I couldn’t seem to pull in achievements as I was with GOG Galaxy and other online platforms.
GeForce Experience
If you have an NVidia graphics card then you’ll probably have the GeForce Experience app installed.
While isn’t strictly a game manager in the same vein as the other apps and websites on this list, If you’re looking for a simple way to manage your games without the need for installing additional software then this is probably the solution for you.
GeForce scans your PC for games and apps (you can’t add them manually) and then brings them all together in one interface.
The bonus of using GeForce Experience is that you’ll be running your game with the optimal settings for your graphics card.
Launchbox
Launchbox was originally developed to allow people to easily emulate and play arcade games at home but over time has developed into a full gaming management system.
Launchbox allows you to link all of your game storefronts together and automatically import your current and new games into the app.
It also allows you to setup and configure a large variety of emulators so you can run all of your old Console games on your PC.
After installing, the app automatically finds all the games installed on your PC, and when linking your storefronts you can opt to add only installed games or all games tied to your account.
The interface is very similar to GOG Galaxy and games are presented in a grid format. Clicking on a game’s cover brings up an information pane where you can view details such as community rating, your rating, description, similar games and more.
You can’t add any notes, there’s no list/backlog functionality but you can flag a game as completed or as a favourite.
It’s also important to note that playtime is only tracked through the Launchbox app – it doesn’t fetch the playtime from the storefront, although it will filter that information back to the store once you’ve played the game through Launchbox.
Final Thoughts
Looking at all of the websites and apps in this list, there isn’t a single solution for managing every aspect of your computer games library but a combination of them will probably achieve a full management system.
I personally use Launchbox to manage my games library as I like the interface and it makes it extremely easy to set up different emulators so I can run all my old PlayStation 1 and Wii games.
I have been looking for something to track what games I want to play next – I have a silly amount of games and sometimes it’s a bit daunting looking through all of them trying to decide – and my game stats so I think a combination of exophase for achievement tracking and HowLongToBeat for backlog management and general game notes might be the way to go.
Of course, you could always use something like an Excel spreadsheet if you just want to track the games you own – perhaps I’ll have to come up with my own solution some time.
What do you think? Do you use any of the services/apps I’ve listed here or perhaps there’s another one you recommend – let me know in the comments below and I’ll check them out!