Ultimately, it is time for probably the most thrilling reside aggressive occasion of the 12 months. No, I do not imply the Tremendous Bowl – it is time for Superior Video games Performed Fast, the annual charity speedrunning marathon that includes a week of gifted players exhibiting off the wildest issues they’ll do with video video games.
Video games Performed Fast (GDQ) has been working for 15 years now, since 2010. The occasion is a reside broadcast speedrunning marathon, throughout which speedrunners take turns exhibiting off beating video video games as quick as attainable, and sometimes in wacky and particularly spectacular methods. In recent times, the occasions have proven off more and more bold performances, together with blindfolded or one-handed runs, two gamers utilizing a single controller, showcases of difficult arcade video games, and even speedruns carried out by canines.
The annual occasion is held to boost cash for the Forestall Most cancers basis, having beforehand raised a report excessive of $3,442,033 in 2022, and $2,539,832 simply final 12 months. And this 12 months’s marathon has some fairly ridiculous runs on the docket. There is a run of Loopy Taxi backed by a reside band, somebody enjoying Elden Ring with a saxophone, new Tremendous Mario Bros. Wii run whereas concurrently enjoying piano, a two-players-one-controller run of Breath of the Wild, a great deal of randomizer races, and all of it wraps up with a Map Randomizer Race between a number of the finest Tremendous Metroid runners on the market. Should you’ve by no means watched GDQ earlier than, it is actually price tuning in.
AGDQ 2025 kicks off at 9:00 AM PT on Sunday, January 5 with a run of Pikmin on Nintendo Change, adopted by Portal 2. Actually, Sunday’s stuffed with bangers: Kirby’s Air Experience follows, there’s an Astro Bot run, then The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, a run notorious for showing at GDQ each years and getting shorter every time because the group discovers new, run-changing skips.
If I hold going I am going to simply checklist each single run in the whole occasion, so here is a fast checklist of highlights it is best to positively take a look at. Positively peak on the official web site for a have a look at the complete schedule, as a result of there’s tons of nice runs I did not checklist right here, and the timing might be topic to vary always all through the week.
Sunday
- 9:00 AM PT: Pikmin – All Elements
- 10:24 AM: Portal 2 – Single participant No SLA
- 1:56 PM: Ori and the Blind Forest – Randomizer World Tour 11
- 3:30 PM: Astro Bot – Any%
- 6:19 PM: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – Any%
- 9:14 PM: Alan Wake 2: Night time Springs – All Episodes
- 10:01 PM: Alan Wake 2: The lake Home – Any%
Monday
- 9:54 AM PT: UFO 50 – Varied Video games Showcase
- 10:51 AM: Tremendous Meat Boy – Any%
- 11:37 AM: Tremendous Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS – SMC Any% No Auto
- 3:00 PM: Metroid Prime – Any% Inbounds Race
- 4:42 PM: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Any% 2 Gamers 1 Controller
- 6:45 PM: Horizon: Forbidden Relaxation – NG+ Story
Tuesday
- 7:47 AM PT: Unicorn Overlord – Any% Story
- 8:26 AM: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana – All Story Bosses
- 10:18 AM: Spyro: Reignited Trilogy – Spyro 1, Any% NBS
- 1:25 PM: Tremendous Mario Bros. – Any% STA
- 6:20 PM: The Final of Us: Left Behind – Remake – Grounded
- 8:05 PM: Silent Hill 2 (2024) – New Sport Mild Restricted
Wednesday
- 8:51 AM PT: Sonic X Shadow Generations – Any%
- 10:23 AM: Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu!/Eevee! – Any% Pikachu/Eevee
- 1:43 PM: New Tremendous Mario Bros. Wii – Any% Whereas Enjoying Piano
- 3:30 PM: Donkey Kong Counry: Tropical Freeze – Any% Authentic Mode
- 5:07 PM: Fallout: New Vegas – All Romances
- 5:52 PM: Tremendous Mario 64 – A-Button Problem TAS Showcase
- 6:27 PM: Rocket League – Workshop Map Speedrun Showcase
- 7:24 PM: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Major Quest
At 8:24 PM PT, GDQ will kick off a block of video games which were affectionally referred to in previous years as “Terrible Video games Performed Fast” or the “Terrible Block.” These are video games which can be foolish, janky, damaged, or in any other case of questionable high quality, and all the time make for some hilarious speedruns. The primary run, Superman 64, you’ve got most likely heard of earlier than, however the remaining you will have not. The Terrible Block runs all through the night time on Wednesday into very early Thursday morning. Talking from expertise, I extremely suggest having insomnia and staying up all night time to look at it. The block concludes with Kevin Costner’s Waterworld at 3:11 AM on Thursday.
Thursday
- 10:55 AM PT: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – All Dungeons
- 3:00 PM: Lies of P – Any% Glitchless
- 5:02 PM: Name of Responsibility 4: Trendy Warfare – Any%
- 6:55 PM: CHUNITHM LUMINOUS PLUS – Arcade Showcase
Friday
- 2:36 AM PT: Closing Fantasy VII Rebirth – Any% Straightforward
- 9:21 AM: Grand Theft Auto: Vice Metropolis – Tightened Vice
- 3:00 PM: Tetris: The Grand Grasp – Multi Sport Showcase
- 4:00 PM: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 48 Tracks (DLC) 200cc, No Objects
- 5:45 PM: Kaizo Mario World 3 – 100%
- 6:52 PM: jubeat copious APPEND – Showcase
- 8:07 PM: Tremendous Mario World – 96 Exit Race
Saturday
Severely, simply cease sleeping and watch the whole day Saturday. I need to checklist each sport right here. It begins with Peggle Excessive and Steel Gear Strong, for pete’s sake! There’s not a nasty factor on the schedule! Wonderful, nice, my editor stated I’ve to slender it down:
- 6:57 AM PT: Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire – Any% Race
- 10:32 AM: Elden Ring – DLC Lockout Bingo
- 12:52 PM: Elden Ring – Saxophone Managed Boss Showcase
- 1:27 PM: Loopy Taxi with Stay Backing Band – Loopy Field
- 2:30 PM: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – No Logic Randomizer
- 6:35 PM: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge – Any%
- 7:55 PM: Tremendous Metroid – Map Randomizer Race
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You will discover her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Received a narrative tip? Ship it to rvalentine@ign.com.
