Games controller on table

4 easy ways to declutter your games collection

Last week, we put together a few ways to clear your gaming backlog but didn't mention the most obvious method: decluttering your collection.

Selling games that you don't play – either because you've finished them or just don't have the time – is the easiest way to get rid of a backlog and earn a bit of cash at the same time. Here are a few ways to decide what to sell.


The 3 month rule

The hardest part of decluttering your game collection is deciding what to get rid of. You won't sell much if you don't put much thought into picking out the games you no longer want; in fact, you could end up selling something you actually wanted to keep.

Therefore, it's a good idea to establish some rules and criteria before you start clearing out. While you should come up with some of your own based on your own circumstances, we recommend trying out the blunt-but-beautiful 3 month rule: anything you haven't played for over 3 months goes.

Best of all, thanks to wonders of technology, you don't have to guess how long it's been since you've played something; it'll be right there on your Xbox/Playstation dashboard. We reckon using this method will clear out at least half your collection.


Trading up

Trading older games for newer ones has been a cornerstone of gaming for years, mainly for monetary reasons. With more and more "˜big' games coming out, though, it's become equally important to save space.

If a new release has caught your eye, get an instant price for some of your older games on musicMagpie.

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Add up how long each game would take you to play

AKA the eye-opener. Take every game you own – played or not – and figure out how long it would take you to play through each game (use howlongtobeat.com).

Then, add the time it would take you to complete each game together and think about all the stuff you could do with that time instead. If you've got a large enough collection, the results should both amaze and terrify you into decluttering as quickly as possible!


Ask yourself: am I actually enjoying this?

Like music and movies, many of us stick with a game we're not really enjoying because we feel like we should be enjoying it (either because it's got loads of good reviews or our friends enjoy it).
However, while an album or film you enjoy will only take up about an hour or two of your time, a game can take anything between 10 – 30 hours. That's 30 hours spent on something you don't even like that much!

To reduce the amount of precious time you spend on stuff you don't enjoy, and to help you with your decluttering efforts, give every game you own at least an hour. If you aren't feeling it after that hour, get rid!


Have you got any collection decluttering tips to share with your fellow gamers? Leave them in the comments!

If you're ready to start decluttering, click below to get an instant valuation for your stuff!

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