GDQ have kicked off their first charity event of the year: Awesome Games Done Quick
If you’re like me, you love speedrunning. It seems like such an unattainable goal; you need dedication and weeks of training to even come close to getting on the leader boards. That’s why it is all the more amazing that every year speedrunners from all around the world get together to stream their games, give out tips and comment of some of the best runners out there, and it’s all for charity.
Awesome Games Done Quick
This Monday, 04 January 2021, GDQ kicked off their first event of the year: Awesome Games Done Quick. It is one of the biggest charity events on Twitch and it lasts all week long. Hundreds and thousands of viewers gather online to watch some of the best speedrunners break games down to their component parts and build them up to achieve the fastest completion time.
This is the best of the speedrunning community and, unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will not be held in person. We won’t get to see crowds of fans gather to watch players in-person, but the event is still going forward virtually.
What is speedrunning
At its most basic, speedrunning is an attempt to beat a game from beginning to end as quickly as possible. It’s a lot more than just playing the game, it’s about finding every possible way to shave a minute, a second, or even a millisecond off your time.
It’s a style of gaming that is suited to the obsessive. The average speedrunner will spend hours every day practicing and honing their skills in order to beat whatever game they are playing in the fastest time possible. It requires an almost perfect understanding of the game’s core mechanics. You need to be incredibly good at what you are playing to avoid anything that would slow you down.
If you want to learn some more about speedrunning and how it relates to esports, you should check out the guide on our website for more info and some reasons it could be the next big esport.
How to watch AGDC
If you watch esports regularly, watching Awesome Games Done Quick is as easy as switching the Twitch Channel you are watching. The stream is being broadcast live on the GamesDoneQuick Twitch channel all week long. If you tune in, you will be a part of the thousands of other fans checking out the best speedrunners play for charity.
You can choose any number of games that suit your fancy and check out only what interests you. If you are nervous that watching one person play games could get boring, don’t worry, every gameplay stream is backed up by a commentator or commentators who give colour commentary and information about the game, the speedrunning strategies and simply some fun chat.
The games
Speedrunning is such a diverse community. One of the great things about speedrunning is that there are communities of speedrunners for nearly every game you can think of. If for some reason, you are obsessed with the 7up Cool Spot Gameboy title, there will be a small community of people who are dedicated to beating it in under one minute.
Games from as far back as the NES to the modern console and PC games of today all have speedrunning communities who are dedicated to beating the game as quickly as possible.
This week I would recommend checking out Dishonoured 2 for some of the smoothest free running, assassination gameplay you have ever seen, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 for some sick flips and tricks, and Final Fantasy 7 for some crazy strategies.
If you have a specific game in mind, make sure to check out the full schedule on the Games Done Quick website.
