Game Tracker

Why track video games?

Game libraries get messy quickly. A single player might have wishlisted games, unfinished games, completed campaigns, multiplayer staples, subscription discoveries, old favorites, and games abandoned after an hour. Storefront libraries show ownership, but they don't show what you played, what you finished, what you liked, or why you stopped.

OmniTrackr keeps games in the same library as the rest of your media. Games compete with movies, shows, anime, books, and music for the same evenings, so it helps to see them together. A list of what's already waiting also makes it harder to buy three more games in the next sale.

A better way to handle the backlog

1. Add games when you start them, finish them, or decide they belong in your backlog.
2. Use played status to separate unplayed, in-progress, completed, and abandoned games.
3. Add genres so you can see whether your backlog is overloaded with one type of game.
4. Rate after enough playtime to understand the mechanics, pacing, and replay value.
5. Write a review when a game is worth recommending, warning about, or remembering clearly.

A backlog shouldn't turn into a guilt list. You don't have to finish everything. You just want to know what you have, what you're playing next, and what you can stop thinking about.

Owning a game isn't the same as wanting to play it. A game in a subscription library, a sale purchase, a multiplayer invite, and a single-player campaign you've been waiting for don't all need the same priority. A short note and the played status remind you why you added each game before the next sale buries it.

Completion, platforms, and play style

Finishing a game can mean different things depending on the genre. Completing a short narrative game, reaching credits in a role-playing game, clearing a roguelike milestone, or deciding a multiplayer game is no longer part of your rotation can all count as done. Your tracker should let each of those count.

The platform can make a difference too, even for the same game. A game may be better on handheld, stronger with friends, weaker on older hardware, or more satisfying with accessibility settings. Review notes are where you record the version you actually played.

What to put in a game review

Good game reviews get specific: controls, difficulty, pacing, performance, art direction, story, level design, multiplayer experience, and whether the game respects the player's time. A five-star rating might say you loved it, but a review can explain whether you loved the combat, the world, the co-op loop, or the quiet exploration.

For long games, review notes can also capture where the experience changed. A game may start slowly and become excellent, or begin strong and become repetitive. If you write that down, you'll know later whether to come back for downloadable content, try a sequel, or look for something similar.

Public game reviews work best when they say who the game is for. Mention whether the game suits completionists, casual sessions, co-op groups, story-focused players, competitive players, or people who only have short windows to play.

Using game statistics

Game statistics show patterns that storefronts don't. You might notice that your highest-rated games are shorter, that you abandon open-world games more often than expected, or that certain genres dominate your backlog. Knowing that, you can skip buying games you probably won't finish.

Game backlog cleanup checklist

A game backlog is easier to manage when you know what you'll do with each entry. Keep the games you want to play, mark finished games honestly, and stop counting abandoned games as things you still owe yourself. Games are for fun, and the list shouldn't feel like homework.

• Mark games you are actively playing before adding more sale purchases.
• Add a short private note for games you paused so you know whether to restart or continue.
• Rate only after enough playtime to judge mechanics, pacing, performance, and difficulty.
• Write public reviews for games where your experience would help another player decide.

This helps most with subscription libraries and seasonal sales, where you can end up owning far more than you have time to play.

Sharing a game library

Game lists can be fun to share with friends, especially when you want co-op recommendations or want to compare favorites. OmniTrackr privacy controls let you choose whether your video game library and statistics are visible. You can keep your full backlog private and still publish finished reviews for other people to read.

Because the backlog is private, you can be honest in it. Private notes can be blunt about why you bounced off a game, and a public review can be tidied up for someone deciding whether the game fits their taste.

Related pages

For other tracking workflows, read the TV show tracker guide, the broader media tracking use cases, or the media tracker comparison page.