Where to watch, when to watch, who to watch
Summer Games Done Quick, the second leg of Games Done Quick’s annual speedrunning marathon series, gets underway Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET. More than 150 events are on a schedule stretching for the following six days.
Over the past nine years, this has become one of the premiere streaming events in video games fandom. But it can be a lot to handle, especially in terms of picking out what to watch. Polygon will be providing viewers’ guides that try to suss out the key events coming that day and spotlight which ones could deliver excitement.
Right here, of course. The livestream via Twitch is also available directly, here.
That said, because this is a marathon, many things may happen while you’re away or asleep. Video-on-demand is as important to watching a Games Done Quick marathon as the live event.
This is a gathering of elite speedrunners, so you can bank on most events featuring someone whose best time is in the top 3, as maintained by Speedrun.com. That said, we’ll do our best to call out events that are timely or whose performers have recently been a part of something noteworthy.
World record performances at a Games Done Quick are rare — think of it as similar to a world record being set during an Olympics. But it does happen. GDQ VODs says the last time a Summer Games Done Quick saw a world record set was in 2016 (when there were four world record performances. There have been just 22 in 17 Awesome/Summer Games Done Quick marathons since 2010. This despite hundreds of events at each one.
GDQ organizers spend a lot of time taking submissions (which are open to the public) and evaluating them against a number of criteria, ranging from the runner’s consistency of performance to how visually entertaining the game is.
That said, there are always some notable omissions. One not on SGDQ’s main event list, for example, is Super Mario Odyssey, which has been among the top 3 of most-speedrun games (again, according to speedrun.com) since it launched in October.
Still, Super Mario Odyssey was accepted as a “bonus” event, which probably means it is being held aside as a special donation incentive appearance where program staff air it in a prime slot and, if a certain fundraising goal is met, add a special condition to the run for everyone’s enjoyment.
The speedrunner for Super Mario Odyssey ’s bonus event, when it happens, is NicroVeda, currently the game’s Any% world record holder .
Speedrunning is as much a subculture as it is entertainment, with its own terms and descriptors. If you’re unfamiliar, here are some common ones you may see used.
After the pre-show from 12:30 to Summer Games Done Quick opens with four runs, three of which feature world-record holders (and the other is a very timely world No. 2) Two of these world title holders only recently took the top slot. ( The full schedule is here.)
Other runners on tap over the next 24 hours (to noon Monday) who hold No. 1 records in their events:
Other names and games of note in the first 24 hours: Gymnast86 takes on The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D (Any%) from 7:12 p.m. to almost 9 p.m. and Error72 goes after an Any% run of Ghosts ‘n Goblins (on the NES, 2 loops) at 3:05 a.m.
Check back with Polygon each day, we will do our best to set up the coming 24 hours and point out events that have potential for viewing excitement.
You may have heard this is a charity marathon. Summer Games Done Quick’s philanthropy is Doctors Without Borders. Last year’s event raised $1.7 million for the organization, and SGDQ lifetime (dating to 2011) has raised more than $5.3 million.
If the spirit moves you, donations may be made through the Games Done Quick website .
