Website review
This review may include AI-generated content and is not individually verified. Domain, certificate and other facts come from the observed data on this page.
What is GG| - Video Game Collection Tracker?
GG| - Video Game Collection Tracker is a cataloging and discovery tool for video games, positioned as a kind of “Goodreads for games.” It lets you build a personal collection, browse new and popular titles, and see what friends are playing, according to the site’s own description at GG| - Video Game Collection Tracker.
What it’s for
- Collection tracking: Keep a record of the games you own or have played, rather than relying on memory or scattered store libraries.
- Discovery: Find new games through popular lists and recommendations, including references to “best games of 2018” and popular titles.
- Social comparison: See what friends are playing, which can help you decide what to try next or compare tastes.
Who it suits
It’s most useful for players with libraries spread across multiple platforms or generations, and for people who enjoy browsing and discussing games socially. If you only play one or two titles at a time and don’t care about cataloging, a simple notes app or store wishlist may be enough.
A practical next step
Before committing time to entering your whole library, test it with a small batch: add five games you’ve finished, five you’re playing, and five you want. That reveals whether its catalog, search, and social features match how you actually think about games.
How do I add games to my collection on GG|?
Adding a game to your collection on GG| starts from a game's entry: find the title you want, then use the collection action on that game's page. The site frames its core purpose as tracking your collection alongside discovering games and seeing what friends play, so the add step lives on the individual game rather than in a separate inventory screen.
A typical first run
- Use the site's search or browse to open the game's page.
- Choose the collection control on that page (usually a button or icon near the title).
- If you track statuses, set the one that matches reality — owned, playing, finished, wishlist.
- Repeat for the next title; your collection builds up as you go.
What to decide before you start
- One shelf or several? Decide whether you want a single "everything I own" list or separate owned/playing/wishlist groupings. That choice affects how consistently you tag each game.
- Physical and digital together? If you own both, pick a convention now (for example, one entry per game, not per copy) so counts stay meaningful.
- Platform matters? If you own the same game on two systems, decide whether that is one entry or two.
Practical example
Say you buy a game on sale and already own it physically. If you log every purchase separately, your collection count inflates and "what should I play next" lists get noisy. Logging one entry per title and noting the platform keeps the collection readable.
Where GG| fits against alternatives
| Tool | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| GG | Combining a personal collection with discovery and friends' activity | |
| Backloggd | Detailed logging, reviews and backlog organisation | More form-filling per game |
| HowLongToBeat | Estimating time to finish before you commit | Less of a collection-management focus |
| Letterboxd | Film, not games — useful only as a comparison of the "log everything you watch" model | Wrong medium |
Your next step: add three games you are actively playing right now, set their statuses, then check whether the resulting list actually answers "what am I in the middle of?" If it does not, simplify your statuses before adding the rest of your shelf.
Does GG| help me discover new video games based on my collection?
Yes, discovery is one of the three core jobs GG| presents: it describes itself as a place to "discover new video games, track your game collection, see what your friends are playing." The discovery angle is tied to your collection and your social circle rather than to a generic bestseller chart.
What that means in practice
- Collection-based suggestions. Because the site is built around logging what you own or play, recommendations can draw on that history. A reader who has logged a shelf of turn-based tactics games should expect suggestions in that neighborhood rather than whatever is currently topping sales charts.
- Friend activity as a signal. The site explicitly mentions seeing what friends are playing, so other people's libraries act as a second discovery channel. This suits people who trust a friend's taste more than an algorithm.
- Browsing by popularity. The page also references popular video games and best games of 2018, so there is a broader editorial or trending layer alongside personalised suggestions.
How it compares to alternatives
| Approach | Strength | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| GG | (collection + friends) | Suggestions grounded in what you already own and what people you know are playing |
| Pure storefront recommendations | Immediate, no setup | Driven by what a store wants to sell |
| Manual tracking in a spreadsheet | Total control, no account needed | No discovery at all; you have to find games yourself |
A realistic scenario
Suppose you have finished a long role-playing game and want something similar but shorter. On GG| you would add the finished title to your collection, then look at what friends with overlapping taste are playing and at popular titles in the same genre. That is faster than scrolling a store page, but only if your collection and friend list are already populated.
Next step
Create an account, log the ten or so games you have played most recently, and add a few friends whose taste overlaps with yours. Then judge the suggestions: if they feel relevant after that small amount of data, the collection-based approach is working for you. If you would rather browse curated lists first, Backloggd and HowLongToBeat cover logging and playtime in different ways, and Metacritic remains a straightforward route to critical consensus.
Can I see what my friends are playing on GG|?
Yes. GG| is built around three connected activities: discovering games, tracking your own collection, and seeing what your friends are playing. The friend activity view is part of the core pitch rather than a side feature, so if you add friends on the site, their playing activity is meant to be visible to you.
What that looks like in practice
Think of it as a social layer on top of a personal game log. You record what you own or play; your friends do the same; the overlap becomes a lightweight recommendation feed. It is closer to a reading tracker's social tab than to a live "currently in-game" status, so expect it to reflect what people log rather than streaming real-time play sessions.
A concrete scenario: you finish a long RPG and want something shorter next. Instead of scrolling a general popularity chart, you check what two or three friends with similar taste have been logging lately, then add anything interesting straight to your own collection.
Practical trade-offs
- Useful when your friends actually log games. The value scales with participation; a quiet friend list gives you little to look at.
- Discovery and tracking are intertwined. Friend activity feeds back into your own collection, which is the main reason to use one app for both instead of splitting them.
- Logging effort matters. Any social play feed is only as current as the entries behind it, so decide up front whether you will log as you go or in occasional batches.
Next step
Create your account, add a handful of friends who play games you like, and log three or four titles you have finished recently. That gives the friend activity view something to compare against, and you will quickly see whether the social side is worth maintaining for you. If you mainly want a private catalogue with no social element, a simpler tracker may suit you better — see Backloggd for a collection-focused alternative.
Is GG| free to use, or does it require a subscription?
GG| does not present subscription pricing on its homepage. The page describes the service as a video game collection tracker where you can discover new games, track your collection, and see what friends are playing, with no mention of paid tiers, fees, or checkout. That points to a free-to-use service, at least at the level described.
What that means in practice
If you mainly want to log the games you own, browse popular or notable titles, and follow friends' activity, you can likely start without paying. A free collection tracker is usually the right fit when:
- You want a lightweight catalog of what you own or have played.
- You are curious about discovery through other players rather than critic scores.
- You would rather not commit to a recurring cost before knowing whether you will keep logging games.
Be cautious about assuming every feature is free forever. Free trackers often keep the core collection free while charging for extras later, such as deeper stats, imports, or ad-free use. Since no pricing details appear on the page, treat "free" as the current state of the advertised service, not a guarantee about future tiers.
A useful next step
Create a small test collection: add five games you own and five you are curious about, then check whether the tracking and discovery flow feels worth your time. If you later hit a paywall or a feature limit, that is the moment to decide whether a subscription is justified. For comparison, Goodreads-style cataloging for books is free at Goodreads, and Backloggd offers a similar free game-logging model at Backloggd.
How does GG| compare to other video game collection trackers like Backloggd or HowLongToBeat?
GG| is a video game collection tracker whose stated focus is three things: discovering new games, tracking what you own, and seeing what friends are playing. That combination positions it closer to a social catalog — a "Goodreads for games" idea, which the site itself gestures at — than to a pure time-estimation tool or a review-centric logging site. Backloggd and HowLongToBeat overlap with parts of that, but each solves a different core problem.
Where the three tools diverge
| Tool | Primary job | Best for | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| GG | Collection tracking plus discovery and friend activity | People who want a social shelf of what they own and play | |
| Backloggd | Logging, rating and reviewing games you've played | Players who want a diary-style record and written opinions | Less about ownership; more about history and critique |
| HowLongToBeat | Estimating how long a game takes to finish | Deciding what to start next when time is short | Not a collection or social platform in the same sense |
The practical distinction is intent. If your question is "what should I play next given my free weekend?", HowLongToBeat answers it directly. If it's "what did I think of this game, and what do others think?", Backloggd fits better. If it's "what do I own, and what are my friends into right now?", that's the space GG| is aiming at.
A concrete scenario
Say you've accumulated 200 games across consoles and storefronts and keep forgetting what you already bought. A collection-first tracker like GG| addresses that directly, and the friend-activity angle can surface titles you'd otherwise miss. But if none of your friends join, that half of the value disappears — a common failure mode for any social catalog. Backloggd, by contrast, works fine solo because your own log is the point. HowLongToBeat works fine solo because the crowd-sourced times are the point.
How to decide
Ask which of these you'd actually use weekly:
- Recording ownership and spotting duplicates or gaps in your library
- Writing down opinions and reading others' reviews
- Checking completion times before committing to a long game
- Seeing what people you know are playing
Pick the tool matching your top answer, and accept that no single tracker does all four equally well. A reasonable next step is to open GG| and check whether the games you own are already in its catalog and whether anyone you know is active there — those two things determine whether it becomes useful to you or just another empty list.
User reviews (0)