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EarthBound and the Joy of Not Clearing Your Backlog

vvideogamer

2026-01-25

9 min read

EarthBound shows why an eternal backlog can be a gift. Embrace selective play, beat completionism, and enjoy games longer.

Why your backlog is stressing you — and why that might be okay

We all know the feeling: a sprawling library of half-played games, a blinking notification from a storefront, and the gnawing voice that says you should be finishing them all. That pressure — the itch to conquer, complete, and classify every title — is a major source of gaming burnout in 2026. But what if the backlog isn’t a problem to solve, but a cultural asset to cultivate? Inspired by renewed conversations around Backlog Week 2026, this essay argues that embracing an eternal backlog can sharpen your appreciation for standout games, defend your mental health, and change how gaming culture treats nostalgia and completionism.

The moment that started the conversation

In January 2026, Kotaku’s Backlog Week — and Moises Tavares’ piece “The Greatness Of EarthBound Reminded Me Why I Never Want To Conquer My Backlog” — swept through feeds and comment sections. That article made a simple but radical point: sometimes not finishing everything on your list preserves the magic of the ones you love. As someone who replayed EarthBound in that same week, I found it true: the game’s small, strange scenes land harder when you’re playing because you want to, not because you’re ticking a box.

"The Greatness Of EarthBound Reminded Me Why I Never Want To Conquer My Backlog" — Kotaku, Backlog Week 2026

Why completionism is bad for game appreciation (and mental health)

Completionism is the cultural lens that treats games like chores. That lens has been amplified by achievement systems, social media highlights, and the streaming economy. In 2024–2026, as subscriptions and cross-platform libraries expanded, players felt an obligation to “get their money’s worth.” That obligation can flip play from joy to performance.

There are three overlapping harms from obsessive completionist thinking:

Burnout: Treating play as a checklist converts leisure into labor. Players report more anxiety and less enjoyment when playtime is measured by completion percentage rather than feeling.
Desensitization: Rushing through games to finish them reduces time for reflection. You miss context, atmosphere, and subtle design choices that make a title memorable.
FOMO and sunk-cost pressure: Subscription services and rotating catalogs in late 2025–26 made people hoard titles ’just in case,’ increasing stress instead of lowering barriers.

EarthBound as a counterargument to the completionist instinct

EarthBound isn’t the longest JRPG, and it certainly isn’t about achieving 100% mastery. Its strengths are tonal: small dialogues, visual gags, and an off-kilter emotional rhythm. When you approach EarthBound as a lived experience rather than a mission, its scenes resonate. That’s the case for many classic and indie titles: their value compounds when played slowly, savored, or returned to after long gaps.

Playing EarthBound in short bursts during Backlog Week 2026 — a late-night town visit here, an NPC monologue there — highlighted a truth: the gaps in our playtime can actually enhance memory. Distance creates a kind of nostalgia-in-progress. The game isn’t less valuable because you didn’t finish it immediately; it can be more precious because you keep returning to particular moments.

2026 trends that make the eternal backlog a practical choice

Several industry and cultural shifts through late 2025 and early 2026 reinforce why an eternal backlog is both inevitable and useful:

Subscription services and rotating catalogs: Xbox Game Pass, Nintendo Switch Online expansions, and boutique retro services are more prominent than ever. Titles appear, disappear, and reappear, reducing the urgency to sprint through everything before it vanishes.
Cloud gaming and cross-save ubiquity: With cloud saves and streaming improvements in 2025–26, you can pick up games across devices. That encourages episodic, non-linear play.
AI-assisted discovery: Platforms increasingly use AI to recommend the exact moment in a game to resume based on your play patterns. Instead of treating a game like a mountain to climb, the tech nudges you back to the slices you enjoyed most.
Mental health discourse: The industry’s growing awareness of player well-being — in part driven by 2024–26 conversations — has normalized pacing, optionality, and anti-grind design choices.

Practical ways to embrace and manage an eternal backlog

Shifting from compulsion to curation doesn't mean abandoning strategy. Below are specific, actionable techniques to turn your backlog into a sustainable, enriching part of your life.

1. Reframe your goals: experience over completion

Replace “finish” with “experience.” When you install a game, ask: What would make this play session meaningful? Is it a memorable scene, a unique mechanic, or a narrative beat? Aim for one meaningful outcome per session, not a completion percentage.

Timebox and create micro-goals

Use short, timed sessions—45–90 minutes—to sidestep the “I must finish” spiral. Set micro-goals like “reach the next town,” “meet two NPCs,” or “finish one dungeon.” These are small wins that don’t demand completion.

Build a rotation system

Rotate between genres and lengths. A rotation could be: one bite-sized indie, one medium-length narrative, and one experimental or multiplayer game per month. This prevents desensitization and keeps your backlog feeling varied.

3. Tag and prioritize with feelings, not just time

Create four simple tags for your backlog entries:

Instant joy: Short games you’ll love to dip into (20 hours or fewer)
Slow savor: Games that benefit from long-term reflection (narrative-heavy, atmospheric)
Learn something: Experimental or mechanically dense titles you want to study
Maybe later: Obligatory picks or hyped titles you’re not excited about

Tagging by feeling helps you pick a game that fits your energy that day.

4. Use tools, but make them humane

Digital tools and AI are getting better at recommending what to play next. Use a wishlist or backlog app that supports emotional tags, time estimates, and cross-platform syncing — look for integrations with creator-focused studio tools and cloud services. Avoid gamified trackers that reward completion above all else. In 2026, look for apps that integrate with streaming/Cloud services and suggest resumptions rather than completions; if you run a creator setup, resources like hybrid studio workflows and how-to-run-an-seo-audit-for-video-first-sites-youtube-blog-h (tools and checklists) can help you choose humane tooling.

5. Make a “shelf of honors”

Create a small ritual to celebrate games you finished in a thoughtful way. It could be a short review, screencap montage, or a thread in a community that values discussion over completion. For small public celebrations and curated lists, see curated 'best-of' page playbooks. This honors your attention without turning play into labor.

6. Lean on community, but set boundaries

Join communities that celebrate partial experiences. In 2026 there’s growing interest in “slice-share” communities—players who post the exact five-minute moment that made them love a game. Share clips rather than completion stats. At the same time, mute or unfollow toxicity that prizes speedrunning or checklist bragging. If you host or participate in local or virtual meetups, portable kit and micro-event gear guides like portable edge kits for micro-events can make community sharing easier, while retro hubs and compact hardware resources (for classic-game lovers) are covered in compact arcade cabinet playbooks.

Case study — a week with EarthBound as a backlog ritual

To translate theory into practice, here’s a short case study from my own play during Backlog Week 2026.

Monday: 60-minute session exploring Onett. Objective: talk to five NPCs and note favorite lines.
Wednesday: 45-minute detour to a side area, capturing a scrollable screenshot of a standout joke.
Friday: 90-minute stretch to experience a boss encounter. Objective: savor the music and oddball writing.
Weekend: Post a short clip to a retro-loving Discord and read others’ memories.

Outcome: I didn’t clear EarthBound in a week. I did come away with a clearer, more affectionate memory of specific moments. That’s the backlog dividend: more memorable fragments and less completion fatigue.

Addressing objections

“Won’t I miss out on ‘important’ gaming moments if I never finish?” Some important moments are unlocked only through long play — that’s true. But you can still prioritize a handful of long-form masterpieces without trying to finish everything. Choose a small set of games each year that you want to complete, and let the rest be an intentionally indefinite collection.

“Isn’t this just procrastination?” The difference between procrastination and a curated backlog is intention. Procrastination avoids; curation chooses. You are actively deciding which games deserve focused attention now and which deserve languid return later.

How this shift changes gaming culture

Embracing an eternal backlog reframes how we narrate our gaming lives. Instead of leaderboard posts and completion badges, we talk about scenes, textures, and the long-term emotional arc of playing. This change has real benefits:

Richer criticism: Critics and creators focus on a work’s lasting moments rather than checklist completion.
Sustainable player habits: Players are less prone to burnout and more likely to keep gaming as a lifelong hobby.
Better industry incentives: Developers are rewarded for memorable scenes and optional depth rather than addictive loops that demand full attention.

Actionable takeaways — a quick checklist

Pick one game this month to experience, not finish. Set a single non-completion goal for each session.
Tag your backlog by feeling. Use four tags: Instant joy, Slow savor, Learn something, Maybe later.
Timebox sessions to 45–90 minutes. Leave wanting more, not exhausted.
Celebrate fragments: Post the five minute moment that moved you, not the 100% completion badge.
Limit your “must-finish” list to three games per year that you actually want to complete.

Final thoughts: nostalgia, patience, and gaming as a lifetime art

In an era of instant access, curated scarcity can restore wonder. That’s the peculiar power of an eternal backlog: it preserves anticipation, encourages selective attention, and protects the emotional value of games. EarthBound — absurd, tender, and quietly profound — is a perfect example. It’s a title that rewards being returned to, not rushed through.

As platforms, designers, and communities evolve in 2026, we have an opportunity to redefine success away from completion percentages and toward sustained appreciation. That shift won’t happen overnight, but it starts with small rituals: timeboxed sessions, feeling-based tags, and the courage to leave some games unfinished for the joy of returning to them later.

Call to action

If you’re ready to try this, pick one game from your backlog tonight and play it with one intention: notice something. Share that five-minute moment in the comments or on social, tag it #BacklogJoy, and join the conversation about making gaming healthier and richer in 2026. Prefer to debate? Tell us which game you refuse to finish and why — your refusal could be the start of someone else’s long, beautiful return.

videogamer

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