16
votes
Letterboxd/goodreads/storygraph but for video games
Looking for an app/platform for logging and rating the games I've played. I play a lot of classic games (playing Dragon Warrior 2 right now) so something with support for older stuff is a must. Tell me what you use!
Bit on a tangent but the pure fact that there is no one single service for this simple workflow but for all different kinds of media is exactly why I have not succesfully replaced my current solution (except letterboxd). Basically I keep a spreadsheet with a sheet each for everything (movies, tv shows, games, albums, etc.) and I use it as my "watchlist" and also "watched" by logging dates and details where relevant. Now, this might work for me but not for the majority because the main reason I want to log things is because of my poor memory and to vent my ideas about the film/game/album while they're fresh, not for the social-media or review sharing part of it.
I did try to use backloggd, goodreads and a few others but it's quite an inconvenience for me to learn the layout of your particular site, even remember the name when I only use it maybe once a month when I finish a new game or book.
I'm generally against monopolizing things under one singular conglomerate but I feel like in this case it's a justified usecase.
Agreed that what differentiates the logging/reviewing platforms for different media is not sufficient to actually differentiate those different kinds of media. A unified experience would be so much better. Can't see any of them doing that though, mainly because most folks invested enough in whatever media review platform (letterboxd, storygraph et al) would likely be so into that media that they wouldn't be open to other media.
I had a very similar spreadsheet for much the same reasons around not having a great memory for what I've watched or planned on watching. I spent some time this year building my own application for it, as I was tired of doing manual data entry but didn't want to give up on having nice covers for all my entries. Notion worked pretty well for the spreadsheet for a long time though.
I also encountered a ton of frustration around my tracked books - I had been using Goodreads due to it's Kindle integration, but found that I can only export partial data through their official methods, and they don't allow use of their API for anyone that wasn't using it before they deprecated it.
(Link to some screenshots)
This is an interesting idea, not just for providing a common UI, but for cross-media discoverability. There’s the obvious links of direct A based on B, like the Halo tv series based on the Halo video game series. Then there’s more clever recommendations, like Return of the Obra Dinn (game) for someone who watches a lot of mystery/deduction tv shows. And even more interesting possibilities.
I use backloggd.com which is nice and social.
It's pretty complete as their data comes from IGDB. But the site layout is not as good as letterboxd (which I also use), and there's no app.
+1 for Backloggd. It has its quirks but has been very nice to use for the most part.
Howlongtobeat allows to submit play times and mark the category (i.e. playing/completed) with rating/review system.
I marked some games couple years ago, but as I mostly just care about playtime. So Steam (and "gameplay time tracker" software, which site is now down) manages that fine for me.
I use MyGameDB.com, it's pretty straightforward and the catalogue of games is massive.
If you have iOS, I really like Sequel. Not only is it great for keeping track of what you’ve played and your ratings, but also lets you keep an ongoing wishlist and backlog for games, shows, movies, and books — with notifications for new releases you’re tracking. Great design, following iOS best practices, with full metadata and an active dev that clearly cares about it.
This looks superb. It's just a shame that it's not social. The main reason I use such services is to see what my friends and trusted experts are consuming and to receive recommendations based on the social graph.
Totally hear ya — I do love that about Letterboxd especially. I’ve made a habit of opening up Sequel whenever I read or hear about something that sounds up my alley, letting other sites handle the social component, and that’s been good enough for me considering how much else it does so well.
I really like Stash. It gives me a good overview of the games that I'm playing, I can review them and put them in lists. This way I can always look back on my favorite games.
Here's the link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.stashteam.games.tracker.stashapp
I use Glitchwave, which is from the same developers as RateYourMusic.
It doesn't have a ton of users unfortunately, but the genre filtering and charting is really good. Would recommend.
GameTrack is exactly what you're looking for, if you're in the Apple ecosystem.
https://gametrack.app/
I’ve used Backloggery for years now. It’s been my go to site for tracking all my gaming accomplishments and it’s always been fun to keep track of my friends as well. It’s got a real Web 1.5 feel to it, which really grew on me.