Summer Games Done Quick is over for the summer, but the memories (and the games) still linger. There were some great speed runs at the event this year, and many of them were favorite, cozy games of mine.
What is SGDQ?
Summer Games Done Quick, or SQDQ, is a yearly event where some of the world-record holders and excellent speed runners gather together to speed run for charity. As usual, SGDQ raised money for Doctors Without Borders, a charity that helps people all around the world to get the medical care they need. This summer, SGDQ raised more than $2.4 million USD. There is also a sister charity event, usually in January, called AGDQ (Awesome Games Done Quick) that raises money for cancer research.
These events, which began in January 2010, have grown massively, and the amount of money raised by this charity is staggering. With a massive team of volunteers, hosts, and speed runners, these events are all streamed live on Twitch, then saved to YouTube so you can go back and watch old speedruns from previous events.
I watch GDQ every half-year with my husband, and we always go out of our way to give a little bit of money. However, with moving and things, we didn’t have much to give this year. So instead, I wanted to share the word of this amazing event so that even more people can join in donating in the coming years. Here are some of my favorite cozy titles that were speedrun this year as well as links to the YouTube videos so you can watch the speedruns for yourself as well.
Beat Saber
While I haven’t played a whole lot of Beat Saber myself because I don’t own a VR headset yet, I adore anything that reminds me of DDR. The runner was KungFuFruitCup, a well-known runner and one of the many hosts for GDQ events, was extremely talented and a pleasure to watch. She is my favorite host, and she was playing a wonderful, cozy game that I adore.
Nintendo Puzzle Collection
I love races in speedrunning, almost as much as I love classic Nintendo puzzle games! This run was amazing to watch as the runners sped through three different puzzle games in Nintendo Puzzle Collection. It’s a unique twist on speedrunning; instead of trying to beat your own personal best, or PB, you are against a live opponent. It’s always a lot of fun and worth watching.
Arctic Eggs
Arctic Eggs is one of those games that isn’t really a horror game, but it has horror overtones and spooky vibes. It’s actually just a really, really weird cooking game, and you have to cook the eggs just right. It’s very strange, but a lot of fun, and Teddyras dashes through each of the balance challenges like they are nothing at all.
Mario Paint
I probably piled 1,000 hours easily into Mario Paint as a child, but I never considered speedrunning any part of it. It’s a triumph of human creativity that someone even figured out how to do so. I got pretty good at smacking bugs with a fly swatter with the weird little SNES mouse you played the game with, but nowhere near as good as giygasblues.
Final Fantasy IX
Another returning champion of my youth was Final Fantasy IX, an adventure JRPG from the year 2000 when I was in high school. This cinematic game holds up in a lot of ways, and it was really something to watch someone tear through the game like it didn’t take me a hundred hours to beat it way back when.
An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs
An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs is a massive game that is basically fetch quests all the time. You play as one of the two last remaining humans, flying between alien airports that are currently being run by, you guessed it, dogs. The dogs can all speak and are all super friendly, except for one: Cage Dog, the dog who loves cages, who put you in a cage for your anniversary.
Blue Prince
I’m fairly certain that Blue Prince will be my game of the year this year. It is a beautiful roguelite where you have to randomly generate a new home every day, and each room holds a bunch of secrets to your family. In the speed run, you don’t get to see any of the lore at all, but it is still a masterful race between two exceptional players.
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