Games Done Quick Crushes $2 Million Goal

It's always a bit of a letdown when Summers Games Done Quick ends. After all the hype and all the excitement and all the laughs, it never feels like a week is enough. But that's just the nature of the beast. Everything must end, and this year's finale was just as satisfying as the years before with the godfather of JRPG speedrunning (or at least 90's Squaresoft JRGPs) Puwexil wrapping up a gloriously entertaining 100% completion run of Final Fantasy VI, during a last-minute push sent the donation tracker skyrocketing over $2 million for the first time in SGDQ history.

For those of you who don't know, speedrunning is, as the name suggests, attempting to get through games as quickly as possible. While this sounds simple in theory, the reality of it is much more complex, involving optimizations, glitches, and just generally "breaking" the game in every way imaginable to the point that some games aren't even recognizable. It takes a keen understanding of the game world and its mechanics, as well as a sharp curiosity and creativity as to how to exploit them.

In order to keep the runs varied, many games have different categories. One of the most common categories is the so-called "any %," which involves simply finding the shortest path from the beginning of the game to the end with all the glitches and sequence-breaks involved with it.

That means Puwexil's upgraded 100% run (the upgrade from any% to 100% was a donation incentive that raised $10,000 for SGDQ's chosen charity, Doctors Without Borders) took a game that took most of us dozens of hours to get through in our youth and beat it in under seven, including all the characters and all the espers, as well as several normally optional bosses. It was incredibly entertaining and well worth the watch, even if it hadn't benefited a very good cause.

Speaking of that cause, SGDQ raises money for Doctors Without Borders (aka Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF), an international charity that sends medical aid to regions blighted by conflict, disasters, epidemics, or other factors making such aid otherwise unavailable. Last year, SGDQ raised $1.79 million, and in the continued tradition of oneupsmanship, this year's event raised a whopping $2 million thanks in large part to a last-minute push during the last half an hour or so of Puwexil's run. A call to arms from a donor started a $5 donation chain that tallied around $67,000 in only about half an hour to top the $2 million mark. It was easily the most exciting moment of the entire marathon, possibly of any GDQ to date, and well worth watching if only to see poor Puwexil try and soldier through the noise. The show, after all, must go on.

While it's certainly a bummer whenever such a hyped-up event draws to a close - as much of a joy as it was to experience it at all - there's plenty to look forward to in the world of speedrunning for those who want to get into the past time or just enjoy watching (like yours truly). These events include frequent races and tournaments that can usually be seen on the Games Done Quick Twitch channel or on their website. One of the most popular categories right now is so-called "randomizer" runs where talented speedrunners tackle a game - often games like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Super Metroid make for the best of this category due to the sheer number of collectable items necessary to beat the game - with all the item locations randomized. Be sure to give the GDQ Twitch channel a follow if you're interested in seeing those.

The website speedrun.com is another great resource for speedrun fans or those looking to get started speedrunning. If you missed any of the runs this year, they're also all available on the Games Done Quick Youtube channel with enough extra content to keep us all busy until the next big marathon.

Speaking of which, the next event would normally be AGDQ, Awesome Games Done Quick, which takes place during the winter. But a new event, Games Done Quick Express (GDQx), was recently announced. This weekend-long speedrunning marathon will take place during Twitchcon this year, which is coming up in October from the 26th to the 28th. The schedule of games, as well as the charities that the event will be benefiting, have not yet been announced. Additional GDQx events are also possible as the big-wigs behind Games Done Quick explore further expansion of their schedule.

Besides GDQx, it's never too early to start getting revved up for Awesome Games Done Quick, the winter version of Summer Games Done Quick. Benefiting the Prevent Cancer Foundation, AGDQ is, if anything, even more exciting and hyped-up than its summer counterpart, having already raised $2 million for two years in a row (in fact, last year it raised $1 million in a single day) for this worthy cause. To date, AGDQ has raised almost $9 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation and all signs point to the next event easily surpassing the $10 million mark. 

Awesome Games Done Quick is held in early to mid January. The 2019 dates and games schedule have not been set yet.

So be sure to keep an eye on Games Done Quick's website, Twitch and Youtube channels, social media, and, of course, right here on Game Grin for news about upcoming events.