It may not look like the horror show that was the popular A&E show, but the results are the same. Instead of a house collapsing under the weight of forty years of the New York Times, my sleek little SSD is filled to the breaking point with platformers and strategy games galore that I don’t even play. All it takes is a bundle with two and a half games I’m even remotely interested in, and the value zone of my brain goes off. “Look what I can get for just a few bucks. Sure, most of it I might give a try but at least I didn’t buy a new AAA game for sixty bucks.” Digital hoarding is a real problem.
A few weeks ago, I bought the Humble Bundle for Freedom, thirty bucks for a whole lot of games. I was suckered in for two reasons. 1) Witness 2) I could tell myself it was for a good cause since the money was all going to charity. Forty Steam downloads later, my library became bloated. I realized I am a digital hoarder.
The thing I can’t get over about digital hoarding is that you cannot see this if you come over to my house. You must dive into my digital life to begin to understand the level of hoarder I have become, or at least look at a credit card statement. That is the most horrifying part of it all. Regular hoarding is simple: all it takes is one look, and your friends and family push the collection of beanie babies aside and start an intervention. Digital hoarding has the same effect but can go under the radar forever.
If games I am even medium about drop below a price threshold or are packaged together just so, I jump at the chance to add them. Meanwhile, I just then stare at my ever-growing list of uninstalled games, planning in my head an order of when I would play them. Obviously, I know I have no intention of playing them, but for one moment at the checkout screen, I needed them.
Gamers like me are becoming more collectors than gamers. The enjoyment we used to get from completing a game is quickly being replaced by just saying we own that game. Bundles are the fastest way to achieve that goal. All a website must do is slap one big title, like Witness, in the bundle, and it will sell out in a matter of hours. That gateway game doesn’t even have to be discounted that much, because the idea of getting multiple games thrown in for ‘free’ is more than enough to seal the deal.
The Role of Nostalgia in Digital Hoarding
Nostalgia is a big driver of bundle sales as well. We know the argument, “I could dig up my old PS2 to play this game, but I’ll buy it again on Steam since it is here.” Two weeks before The Bundle for Freedom, I was suckered in by a LucasArts Star Wars bundle. Such targeted and weaponized nostalgia drove me to open my wallet and buy something that I already bought, finished, then donated or sold. I would love to sit down and play Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast again, but who has time?
Platforms aging and new platforms being so goddamn enticing really ramp up digital hoarding, too. I end up with the same game for each new platform from PS2 to Xbox 360 to Steam and Origin. I have bought KOTOR three times, The Witcher 2 and Stanley Parable two times each, and a whole host of other games far too many times for all my different platforms. The bundle pushers gather up all the fun and excitement from the last generation and feed it to you in a nice neat little package.
Digital hoarding actually triggers real-life hoarding as well. I have emulators for N64s and Gameboys on my phone. Luckily, ROMs are free and give my poor wallet a break. After playing a few hours of Mario Kart and Pokémon Red Version on my phone, I then went out and bought an N64 and found my old Gameboys so I could have the physical thing. I want to relive Mario Kart 64 with my friends, so I’ll buy a 20-year-old piece of technology for a near-modern console price. The collection begets more collecting.
The Dark Side of Digital Hoarding
Your house may not become a fire hazard from all the boxes of junk like traditional hoarders collect, but your personality becomes the same. All the fun comes from acquiring games, and it creates an endless cycle. You see something, you need it, you make a case for yourself, it collects dust, and it starts all over again. Don’t let the exciting deals that bundle websites offer make you into a digital hoarder; take control of your library.
This never-ending pursuit of deals also plays into the instant gratification that technology has fueled. With just a few clicks, we can own a vast collection of games, but it never feels truly satisfying. The dopamine rush comes not from actually playing the game but from securing the deal, adding another item to the ever-growing collection. It’s the equivalent of buying a new shiny object and putting it on a shelf just to admire but never use. Over time, this behavior erodes the very purpose of gaming — enjoyment and challenge.
We have to ask ourselves, are we truly enjoying the games we own, or are we just collecting digital trophies? It’s easy to fall into this trap when the barriers to acquiring games are so low. The industry knows this well, which is why game bundles, sales, and subscription services are a constant cycle, always tempting us to add more, even when we have no time or intention to play them.
In the end, digital hoarding is a cycle of consumption and accumulation that distracts us from the reasons we originally fell in love with gaming: the experience. So, take a step back, look at your digital library, and evaluate whether your collection is truly serving your enjoyment of games or simply feeding a habit that never satisfies.
