If you use Letterboxd, you know the feeling. You finish a film, open the app, rate it, write a quick note, and move on. Simple. Clean. No friction. Your whole watch history lives there and you can actually remember what you thought about things.
For games, that experience doesn't really exist in one obvious place. People ask about it constantly — on Reddit, Discord, gaming forums — and the answer is always a list of half-decent options rather than one clear winner. Here's an honest look at what's out there.
What a Letterboxd for games actually needs
Letterboxd works because it does a few things really well. You can log what you watched, rate it, write a review if you want to, see what friends are watching, and browse lists other people made. It's a complete experience without being complicated.
A game tracker needs the same basics: fast logging, a backlog you can actually manage, ratings and reviews that feel worth writing, and some kind of social layer. Most apps get two or three of these right. Very few get all of them.
The main options right now
Backloggd
The one most people mean when they say they want a Letterboxd for games. The layout borrows heavily from Letterboxd, the community is active, and the five-star rating system feels familiar. It's free, with optional Patreon support for extras. The main limitations: it's built and maintained by one person, so feature updates are slow, and the mobile app is iOS only.
HowLongToBeat
Not really a Letterboxd alternative — more of a research tool. But plenty of people use it alongside a tracker because the playtime data is excellent. If you want to know whether you can finish something before a big release drops, this is the first place to check. The social side is almost nonexistent and the interface is dated. Free.
GG
Well-designed, cleaner than most, and decent for basic tracking. Some of the more useful features sit behind a paid tier, which is frustrating when free alternatives cover the same ground. No mobile app.
Save State
This is our own tracker, so take that for what it's worth. Save State is completely free — no ads, no paywall, no "pro" tier. You can log what you're playing, rate and review games, build your backlog, and track completions. The game database comes from RAWG, which covers most things you'd want to add. The aim was to build the clean logging experience that Letterboxd has, but for games. Try it here.
How they compare
| App | Free | No ads | Mobile | Reviews | Social |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Save State | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Backloggd | ✓ | ✓ | iOS only | ✓ | ✓ |
| HowLongToBeat | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| GG | Partial | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | Limited |
Why there isn't one obvious answer
Games are harder to log than films. A film has a fixed runtime and a clear end point. A game might take you 8 hours or 80 depending on how you play, and "finished" means different things — main story, all achievements, 100% completion, a specific mode. Tracking systems have to handle that ambiguity in ways that film trackers don't.
There's also the platform problem. Your games might be spread across Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and a few other places. Film trackers don't have to deal with that. Some game trackers solve it with platform integrations; most just let you add games manually.
None of that makes the experience impossible — it just explains why no single app has taken over the way Letterboxd did for films. The closest thing is probably logging your games on Save State, building your backlog properly, and using a sensible approach to working through it.
What to actually do
If you want a community-driven experience with a familiar layout, Backloggd is the safe pick. If you care about having a completely clean, no-ads experience across any device, Save State is the better option. If you mainly want to know how long games take, use HowLongToBeat as a reference alongside whichever tracker you choose.
The honest answer is that any of these is better than the alternative, which for most people is a Notes app list from 2022 that hasn't been updated since. Pick one and actually use it. The tracking habit matters more than the tool.
Save State — free game tracker, no ads
Log your games, build your backlog, write reviews. No paywall, no ads, no sign-up fee.
Start tracking for free →Frequently asked questions
Is there a Letterboxd for video games?
Yes, several apps fill the gap. The closest in spirit is Backloggd, which has a similar layout and an active community. Save State is a free alternative with no ads that lets you log games, rate them, write reviews, and track your backlog across any device.
What is the best free game tracker?
Save State is completely free with no ads and no paywall. Backloggd is also free (with optional Patreon support for extras) and HowLongToBeat is free, though it's more of a reference tool than a full tracker.
Can I track my backlog like Letterboxd tracks watchlists?
Yes. Save State has a dedicated backlog list where you can add games you plan to play, mark priority titles, and move them to your currently playing or completed lists as you go. It works the same way Letterboxd's watchlist does, just for games.
Does Letterboxd have a games section?
No. Letterboxd is film-only and there's no indication they plan to expand to other media. For games you need a separate app, and Save State is worth a look if you want something clean and free.