Game backlog burn-rate calculator

Will you ever finish your game backlog?

Put numbers on the pile. See how many months or years it takes, whether new purchases are making it grow, and the buying rate your schedule can actually sustain.

Your backlog

Games you genuinely intend to finish.
Use your own average or a rough story-length estimate.
Lower this if you replay games or spend time in multiplayer.

New games coming in

The calculator updates automatically. It assumes your average playtime and buying habits remain roughly stable.

Your backlog forecast

Hours currently remaining
Effective backlog playtime
Games cleared
Games cleared per year
New hours added
Maximum sustainable buying
Clear time at current buying rate
Future display-ad placement — intentionally empty during launch/testing

What changes the answer?

The useful number is not simply “games owned ÷ games finished.” Backlogs change while you play them.

No-buy challenge

If you stop adding games entirely, your current backlog clears in .

Your current habits

Keeping your present buying rate gives a clear time of .

Five extra hours/week

With five more gaming hours each week, the forecast becomes .

Game backlog calculator FAQ

How do I calculate how long my gaming backlog will take?

Estimate the remaining hours in your backlog, then divide that by the number of hours per month you actually spend progressing backlog games. BacklogBurn also subtracts the hours represented by new games you keep adding.

Why can the calculator say my backlog will never clear?

If the estimated playtime of the games you add each month is greater than the backlog hours you clear each month, the backlog grows faster than you can finish it. In that case there is no mathematical clear date unless one of those habits changes.

What should I use for average game length?

Use your own library if you know it. Otherwise choose a conservative estimate based on the kinds of games you actually finish. A library of short indie games behaves very differently from a backlog dominated by RPGs.

Does this connect to Steam?

Not in the first version. This calculator intentionally works without an account or API connection. Steam-library analysis is a possible future tool.