That’s the great thing about being a patient gamer: games are usually cheaper, so I don’t feel obligated to get every ounce of value from it.
I use guides a lot if the game stops being fun. If it’s still not fun with the guide, I drop it. Most of the games I play cost $5-10, with a handful being $20-30 and a very small number being more than that (just bought Cities: Skylines 2 for <$40, which is the most I’ve spent in years on a game). So if a game ends up sucking or not being long enough, I don’t feel like I’ve been cheated, I mentally appreciate the time I spent with it and move on.
What helped me was creating labels for my game library:
done - maybe completed, maybe not, but I have no interest in revisiting
replay - was fun and I could probably enjoy it again, but I’m done with it for now
play next - games I’m excited to play soon
maybe later - kind of interesting, but not right now
probably never - I didn’t give it a solid shake, but I also don’t think it’s worth spending time on; maybe I’ll sift through if I’m bored
If I have a long break, I’ll install a handful from “maybe later” and see if I find a gem. If I’m strapped from time, I’ll pull from “play next,” which is where I’m much more likely to find something fun. If I’m feeling nostalgic, “replay” is right over there.
if you’re struggling with your backlog
IMO, stop calling it a backlog. Organize stuff by how interested you are, and play stuff when you feel excited to play. I have hundreds of games collected over years of buying way too many bundles, and there’s absolutely no way I’m playing through them all. So I organize them by interest and play when I have a spare minute.