Gamification, or the reframing of menial, productive, or necessary tasks into a fun and rewarding “game” experience with points and other typical gaming elements, is a recent development that has increased in popularity, and shows effectiveness in a number of spheres. During my time in hospital chaplaincy, the pediatric units would frequently have “Healthcare Clowns,” which were professional clowns that compassionately helped children to “gamify” and reframe their otherwise often anxiety-inducing medical procedures. One can essentially gamify anything in their life to help motivate and move from resistance to embracement, and Backlog Golf is no less the same when gamifying accountability and appreciating what video games, books, and other media we’re blessed to have.
Backlog Golf is applying basic golf rules to one’s “backlog,” the record of media you’ve collected but yet to experience. A game library, a book library, or maybe seasons of an anime you’ve been wanting to watch, these are lists considered “backlogs,” usually and unfortunately forgotten as we’re tempted to purchase new media, caught in this tension between novelty and gratitude.
Here’s a basic snapshot of Backlog Golf from Chris Hecox here at GUG back in 2019:
“Backlog Golf is coined by Eric Bryant, a guy from a Facebook group I’m in called The #Backlog Book Club. Backlog Golf is ‘… designed to encourage you to spend less on games and decrease your backlog.’
Backlog Golf is played with a group of friends over the course of one year.
A backlog game is “any game owned and not beaten [main objective not finished] or completed [Platinum trophy, 100% achievements, etc]… including games in progress.”
- If you beat a game in your backlog, you get -1 to your score.
- If you complete a game in your backlog, you get another -1 to your score.
- However, once you’ve started Backlog Golf, if you buy a new game, you add +1 to your score.
- If you play the new game you’ve just bought, add another +1 to your score.
- Here’s the kicker though. If you beat a new game, you don’t get -1, but if you complete it, you do get a -1.
I mentioned Backlog Golf to a few GUG staff members and within a day or two, we started our own game of Backlog Golf.” Here’s the link to that whole article if interested.
When I was first introduced to Backlog Golf on staff at Geeks Under Grace this past January 2026, I immediately signed on for it, including the “Booklog Golf” group as well. I had completed several games the past year, including The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Super Castlevania IV, and Metroid: Samus Returns, but those of course wouldn’t count before the start date of the new year. Since starting though, I got my first -1 by completing Tomb Raider III, while for books I am continuing to read the long but swift and adventurous tale, The Count of Monte Cristo. This gamification gives purpose, intentionality, and goals to my interaction with art and storytelling, reciprocating together the life it gives rather than just mindless consumption.
Backlog Golf helps us to productively appreciate, experience, and internalize what we already have, and consider “Patient Gaming” (r/patientgamers) to curb impulsivity and sharpen our tastes for higher quality media we would most likely enjoy more, rather than frivolously purchasing the new thing only to be disappointed with it later. In a sense, it operationalizes your “geekiness” by improving the efficiency of how you consume media, as well as refines and shapes your preferences for what makes a quality piece of art, by way of appreciating a hidden gem, an underrated title, or a new perspective. Backlog Golf is not only a fun gamifying way to keep accountability of our finances and shelf space, but also useful for helping us reflect on our relationship and experience with art and storytelling, all from the powerful benefits of the psychological principle of delayed gratification and the spiritual virtue of gratitude.
Delayed gratification is the emotionally intelligent, cognitive-behavioral skill of resisting smaller, immediate rewards to secure larger, more valuable, or lasting rewards in the future. The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment is a classic example of this. In this study, children were offered the choice of immediately having one marshmallow, or two marshmallows later if they waited for an amount of time. The researcher then left the room for fifteen minutes, the children’s behavior was observed, and you can explore more for yourself how this study impacted how we understand motivation and rewards.
Backlog Golf gives us the same choice: immediately purchase the new game/book/etc. that just came out, or delay that and instead pursue your backlog for an abundance of benefits, including new potential to affect you mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Immediate gratification vs. future long-lasting rewards is a common challenge of the human condition when presented with decisions every day. Whether Backlog Golf, major life plans, or even yearly or monthly goals, this in a way may prompt us to think beyond our impulsive, immediate, constantly shifting, everyday realities, to that which can lead to evergreen growth, foundational fruits, and a stronger sense of our own transcendent story-reality with the choices we make to influence it for our potential future reality. Our legacy and our potential are not earned alone, but offered beyond our efforts as gifts worth being grateful for, and passed onto others for them to consider their internal beauty of agency to make their life choices with gratitude as well.
Gratitude is the intentional, conscious practice of thankfulness for things, whether positive or negative, since even negative/uncomfortable things have the potential to lead to positive growth. Exercising can be grueling, but leads to longstanding health benefits which far outweigh the act of ignoring yourself through impulsive, immediate gratification. The return on investment (ROI) of quality nutrition in your diet gives you the ability to see, hear, think, feel, and experience the art and stories you love even better, lest you have brain fog, fatigue, or other physical, mental, and emotional ailments that can cause major life strain. Gratitude is akin to stewardship of what we have, what we have been given in this life, and can even help us reflect on the miraculousness of existing at all, especially with the advanced ability that humans have to create art and stories, many of which teach such a virtue.
Backlog Golf can be another catalyst for exploring these kinds of psycho-spiritual dynamics that can prompt the sense of wonder towards “new” things in the other direction, from novelty to nurturance – nurturing oneself and the internal rooms of one’s own spiritual house to explore, experience, and appreciate, rather than resuming the slavery of the constant, consumeristic, materialistic cycle of fleeting impulses that makes us forget we’re human. Being human, blessed beyond our understanding with the capacity for joy, creativity, and playfulness, often leading to this commonly felt sense of transcendence in life, can prompt us with gratitude to be reminded of, and engage with, our current blessings waiting for us with their benefits.
Delayed gratification and gratitude can intersect together, showing the often overlapping relationship between psychology and spirituality. If I decide to not purchase the new and critically acclaimed Crow Country, I can instead consider playing the older Resident Evil for the first time. While similar games, the latter is revolutionary and worth a playthrough for those interested. I practiced delaying the purchase of the newer to experience with gratitude the benefits of the older, all in a gamifying way, like mining the depths for ancient treasure that can be directly surfaced to the present. Resident Evil thus took me on a journey of facing my fears, improving my resourcefulness and resilience, and developing my own autonomy and agency to think through my context and my options to respond to problems in my own life – incredible benefits, on top of saving money to put towards my financial goals and priorities as well. A stronger sense of long-term satisfaction can be felt, including a greater sense of gratitude whether spiritually, relationally to others, or even to yourself, for having made a wise and strategic choice in consuming media.
I’m also grateful that new rules have recently been added to Backlog/Booklog Golf, such as receiving a -1 for having at least 50 hours played, or a certain amount of the book read. This definitely helps for longer titles I’d love to explore, such as Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and the Mana Series. Just the way I’m wired, I respond better by drinking deep the slow and gradual experience of a story, and so I’ve accepted my -1’s may not come quickly this first year of Backlog Golf. The journey itself to see not only how much I may complete, but what exactly I experienced, and the benefits it provided to me in my personal life, is worth the participation to have accountability here, which is a transferable skill to real life in various ways as well.
My favorite sport is golf because of playing Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64 as a child, followed up with the masterful Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour on the Gamecube. Backlog Golf of course perked my interest, only to then learn of its psycho-spiritual benefits. In a way, playing Backlog Golf is a giant -1 for my own life in healing, growth, and development as a person wanting to improve upon my own impulses, spending habits, and perspective on media consumption, but even more deeply with my own sense of gratitude for the art and stories I can experience (that others currently may not have the opportunity to experience), to then share with others the shining glimmers of truth, beauty, and goodness they contain. How might you gamify some aspect of your life or yourself in a way that is not only productive, but also nurturing with newness and creativity from this delayed gratification and gratitude? What today may be your -1, or your 1% towards your goals leading to your future reality?
Thank you for reading my article on delayed gratification, gratitude, and Backlog Golf! If you enjoyed this content, and you’d like to explore more, please feel free to reach out to us at Geeks Under Grace, and we’ll be privileged to listen to how the gifts of art & storytelling have impacted you and your life in mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual ways. Until then, may you have the peace that surpasses all understanding and the blessings of health and safety for you and your loved ones.
Sources
Chris Hecox, “Backlog Golf,” Geeks Under Grace, 2019. https://www.geeksundergrace.com/gaming/backloggolf/
Mischel, Walter; Ebbesen, Ebbe B. (1970). “Attention in delay of gratification”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 16 (2): 329–337. doi:10.1037/h0029815. S2CID 53464175
YouTube, “The Marshmallow Test | Igniter Media | Church Video” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ