The Backlog Files

About The Backlog Files

On The Backlog Files, host Adam Taylor dives into retro classics, cult favorites, and indie standouts—stacking entries franchise by franchise, platform by platform. Every Tuesday at 9 AM EST, we rank, review, and recommit your next must‑play. From Game Boy gems to Switch surprises, Pokémon deep-dives to horror indies, Adam explores what made each game essential, or stray, and why it still matters today. Expect thoughtful takes, nostalgia, and plenty of “game snack” episodes under 20 minutes. New weekly. Always insightful. Occasionally unexpected.

Publisher

Adam Taylor

Category

leisure

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

31 Dec 2023

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

125 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   Replaying Kingdom Hearts Without the Nostalgia

   What happens when you revisit a game that helped shape your childhood and try to judge it like you're playing it for the first time? Adam begins a full Kingdom Hearts retrospective with Kingdom Hearts Final Mix, examining what still works, what has aged poorly and how much of the series' eventual identity was still being figured out in 2002.

2. 

   13 Oct 2026

   Backpack Syndicate Demo: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Meets Inventory Tetris

   Sometimes the best sign that a demo works is realizing you've been playing it much longer than intended. Adam checks out Backpack Syndicate, a dungeon crawler with strong Pokémon Mystery Dungeon energy and a deceptively complex backpack-management system built around weapon placement and synergy. The demo is limited, but it does exactly what it needs to: make the full game immediately wishlist-worthy.

3. 

   7 Oct 2026

   Bills Must Be Paid Review: Great Loop, Not Enough Depth

   Bills Must Be Paid has a very simple proposition: smash piggy banks, make money and try to keep up with your increasingly expensive life. Adam looks at the game's smooth performance, satisfying incremental loop and surprisingly good moment-to-moment feel, along with the progression problem that allows players to exhaust most of what the game has to offer far too quickly.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

40 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 54 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

80

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

71

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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