SUMMER GAMES DONE QUICK 2025
another six months down, and another Games Done Quick marathon in the books! it's hard to believe it's already Sunday as i write this; GDQ always feels like it ends too soon, but this time especially, with the type of energy that was brought in the first few days of the event, my sense of time is completely out the window. Summer Games Done Quick 2025 raised an amazing $2.4 million for Médecins Sans Frontières at a time where support for healthcare and humanitarian aid around the world feels both more crucial and, sadly, more difficult than ever, and along the way, a lot of really excellent runners and games graced the big stage. i don't think i'm walking away from this event with a single word at the top of my mind that sums it up, but i do have a lot that i want to get across about how the week went.
at the end of my AGDQ 2025 post, i talked a lot about the doors that were being opened by Games Done Quick's rapidly increasing technical prowess as a place where speedrunners can go all in on big concepts, and i do feel like you can already see that shining through. during the event recap, something that came up often was that a lot of these newly shuffled production teams took this marathon as an opportunity to settle in to new roles and workflows, but SGDQ 2025, at least as someone looking in from the outside, felt just as confidently produced as ever. showcases that once felt like they were only possible through remote broadcast were able to be held in front of a live audience for the first time, runs that tapped into the information-dense world of bingo and Archipelago let the broadcast design team flex their skills, and there's a game on this very list where i had the delightfully weird experience of thinking "the camera operator on this GDQ run is killing it". it still feels like there's even more room to grow, but as a step forward into a somewhat different era of GDQ, Summer Games Done Quick 2025 landed resoundingly well.
if i can indulge in the vice of caring a little too much about graphs, i also want to talk about the fundraising aspect of SGDQ 2025. thanks to the new and improved 2025 HYPERFIXT caring about social media and stuff, i've had the opportunity to directly agree with people who work with GDQ that people tend to fixate a little too negatively on beating records set in economically volatile times, so it feels a little hypocritical of me to devote time to this in my big wrap-up post, but i promise, i'm going somewhere with this and it's nice! just stick with me for half a minute!
when i think about how the last night of SGDQ 2025 went, my mind goes back to SGDQ 2023 as a bit of a parallel. that marathon is, to this day, not covered on this website, and that has infinitely more to do with really unfortunate circumstances that happened to pop up in my life right as the marathon was wrapping up, but it is worth being real and saying that about two years ago now, it definitely felt like something had to give when it came to pacing and incentive structures, as SGDQ 2023 ran well past sunrise and often stalled out its biggest can't-miss goals for upwards of an hour. Games Done Quick as an organization seems to have really taken that to heart, as SGDQ 2025 missed a handful of big 'hit this total by this time' goals, including at the very end of the marathon.
the art of stalling and rallying the audience - both physical and virtual - is a tricky balance that often brings out a lot of hot takes in all directions. ultimately, i err on the side that it's for an extremely good cause and that a little bit of a prolonged push isn't the worst thing in the world, but clearly there's limits, out of respect for both the audience and the runners who make this event possible. you could argue there were a couple of times when shout-outs perhaps ran long or an extra little bonus was snuck in to give the crowd one last chance to get over the finish line, but honestly, there were moments during SGDQ 2025 where i felt holding off for a couple of minutes would have been completely justified, and yet GDQ still opted to say a goal had been missed and kept moving forward.
i say all this with a massive amount of respect for Games Done Quick as an organization; i am incredibly grateful for what they do, and as a viewer, i do feel respected and heard. the past two years have felt like a real response to seeing what happens when things get stretched too thin, and while obviously i wish the milestones had been met, i think it displays a very healthy shift in perspective to allow SGDQ to wrap up without having hit every goal, all without losing sight of the fact that 2.4 million dollars for MSF is still an astonishing amount of practical real-world good being done. to be able to take a missed goal on the chin and maintain such a positive, hopeful energy that keeps the forward momentum rolling is no small feat, and i want to give huge kudos to the entire team for how they've found that balance lately.
while we're on the subject of maintaining positive energy in tricky situations, i also want to briefly thank Games Done Quick for being loudly, proudly supportive of the diverse communities that are foundatiional to the event and, even beyond that, simply deserve respect and equality the world isn't giving them. we already kind of knew we were in for rough times globally by the time AGDQ 2025 rolled around, but this does feel distinctly different as the first GDQ where we're, y'know, back in it. to so vocally support LGBTQ+ people - and even announce a new weekend marathon for the fall, seemingly organized by LGBTQ+ runners in support of LGBTQ+ causes - is an important beacon for so many people. naming a pair of save files 'trans rights' and 'trans lefts' might not be praxis, but to see a crowd of people so eager to stand by trans people absolutely means something.
i'm sure you've had enough of my mushy metatextual ramblings, though; video games weren't just played, they were played quickly! and really well! let's dive into some of my personal favorites of SGDQ 2025!
BEAT SABER
rhythm showcases have become something of a GDQ staple, and SGDQ 2025 wound up being a bit of a 'second debut' for a lot of the biggest games in the scene, as VR set-ups and arcade cabinets that were once too difficult to set up on-stage got to be played in front of live crowds. out of the three big showcases, Beat Saber is the one i've actually had some hands-on time with myself, so rather than saying "wow, that seems really impressive", i can confidently say "wow, that IS really impressive". the level of execution here is stunning - especially knowing this runner is also on the interview team and had to, y'know, keep volunteering throughout the week after this - and the double-header setlist really showcases how much love people have poured into Beat Saber as a medium, with equal parts banger charts and astonishingly high-effort mods. shout-out to Kitchen Gun and bara Swatch fanart making it to the biggest stage in speedrunning.
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obviously i have to give a nod to the other two big rhythm showcases of SGDQ 2025! Synchronica showed off some vaguely osu!-tinged two-player action i'd love to try out for myself, and ZELLLOOO enduring a full hour of high-level, occasionally blindfolded Pump It Up Phoenix was a Herculean feat that left my jaw on the floor.
ROLLERCOASTER TYCOON
RollerCoaster Tycoon is a fascinating one; in making this list, i wanted to make a conscious effort to talk about a wider spread of games than usual, to highlight the sheer variety coming out of Games Done Quick these days. you could say "ah, mission accomplished, Rollercoaster Tycoon is the only simulation game on this list", but if you watch this run, i think you might understand what i mean when i say it's actually the only RTS on this list? when played at such an absurdly high level, the rapid inputs and absurd manipulation of park guests and budget as resources really brings out a completely different side of this game, utilizing all kinds of quirks to channel the mechanics of a long-form park sim into, if you'll pardon the obvious lay-up here, a real rollercoaster of a run. of course, as a devout theme park nerd and enjoyer of high-commitment bits, i also have to shout out the runner and couch for bringing such an amazing energy to this run, breaking down every twist and turn and so clearly having a great time as Dynomation fills the landscapes with 30 Trans Rights coasters and $12 boat rides.
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i mean, what else is there that can match the vibes of RollerCoaster Tycoon? if i really wanna make a stretch here, you might get more of that snap-decision rapid-input high off of the Nintendo Puzzle Collection relay?
DONKEY KONG: JUNGLE BEAT
folks, 2025 truly is the summer of Donkey Kong. SGDQ 2025 happens to have landed right before the Switch 2 finally becomes a real-ass console with Donkey Kong Bananza, and it feels extremely right to see Jungle Beat finally getting its due now, given how low-key important it is in Nintendo history. thankfully, this speedrun puts the game's best, most (in)famous aspects front and center; i was very pleased to learn that the DK Bongos are in fact, the optimal way to speedrun this game! you can play it with a regular controller, but it is worse and slower, and the Bongos are faster specifically because of weird physical properties they have as a weird physical object! there's still a little magic in the world after all.
really, though, Jungle Beat is such a idiosyncratic take on a platformer, and it's amazing seeing LaurieDBunnykins push those unique mechanics to their limits, whether that's through sheer force of bongo-mashing will or by using the game's unilateral 'do stuff' input for some wild skips. combine that with one of the funniest couches at the event and some stop-and-go hype from the crowd to avoid incurring the wrath of the bongos' clap sensor, and you have a one-of-a-kind run for a one-of-a-kind game.
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if you like your Donkey Kong a little more traditional - but no less high energy - the obvious go-to here would be Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, with long-time GDQ staple spikevegeta still bringing the heat for his 21st marathon run. on the other hand, if you want to follow through the incredibly narrow superlative of "best runs where limy and LaurieDBunnykins are both present for a game wherein a primate collects bananas using an unconventional control scheme", Super Monkey Ball: Touch and Roll got tagged in at the last minute as one of the final runs of the marathon, showing off expertise in an underappreciated corner of the Monkey Ball lineage.
WOLFENSTEIN II: THE NEW COLOSSUS
it's hard not to love a good FPS run, especially when you get to stomp on Hitler! that really is the core pillar of this run; anarchy is absurdly good at making the frantic energy of Wolfenstein look slick and effortless, and it feels really damn good to see a crowd so excited by the whole "Wolfenstein is unavoidably, unapologetically a game about stomping on Hitler" thing. i really can't imagine a better mainstage debut for such a talented runner; to balance the humor of clowning on fascists with the sincere weight that events like Games Done Quick are, as i said with January's Crazy Taxi run, a little punk nowadays in continuing to stand up against an increasingly hostile world, all while still putting on a superb showcase of high-level FPS gameplay? it felt like a real-ass capital-M Moment to me.
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thanks to the vast and often ecletic tastes of the speedrunning community, i get to triangulate out a really fun set of connections for you. if you want more amazing first-person shooters, Titanfall 2 is still blowing my mind almost a decade later with how its polished movement has been pushed to incredible heights, and if you liked both of these fast-paced, high-intensity shooter runs, you can also see anarchy and bryonato together for their most intense game yet: Backyard Baseball '97. i only woke up about halfway through the game in a post-Silly Block haze, but i still found myself on the edge of my seat for the best baseball played on the GDQ stage since Peanut Butter's showcase.
RESIDENT EVIL 7: BIOHAZARD
i generally think of myself as far too jumpy for horror games, but when it comes to speedrunning, not only does that tension quite literally get defused, but the strategies involved with circumventing a genrne that's meant to put you on the back foot and make you feel helpless are often some of the most impressive you can find. case in point, CaptainEzekiel's incredibly polished run of Resident Evil 7 captures a sort of non-stop energy that i have trouble putting into words; from start to finish, the momentum is constant, whether you're watching him carefully count out shots to fell bosses or getting introduced to Smethan, the small Ethan Winters. with RE7's incredibly varied setpieces, the run constantly keeps you on your toes, wondering what'll come next, and it's always a joy to have that fearful tension turned around into excitement by such a talented runner.
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CaptainEzekiel also had a run on the schedule for Oblivion Remastered, which masterfully showed off how tuning up Bethesda jank will simply drive runners to find newer, weirder forms of Bethesda jank to exploit. if you want more of that 'non-stop' feel, Metal Gear Solid 3 is another fantastic example, and playing through the entire game with ghostly invisible enemies feels like it might earn Snake Eater an honorary spot amongst the horror games.
SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY
in my mind, it's hard to argue against 3D Mario as one of the great dynasties of speedrunning, and as someone who started keeping up with the scene around 2018, Super Mario Odyssey will always have a special place in my heart as the one that i've gotten to watch develop as a speedrun over time. there might be no better example than this co-op run; believe it or not, this oft-forgotten feature, usually relegated for younger siblings to have something to do, has actually become an even more optimized speedrun than the single-player route through the efforts of absurdly synchronized runners like ZackInTheBox and Jambo, who's three years of weekly in-person practice has clearly paid off. solo Odyssey is already has some of the most satisfying movement in gaming history, so to see how it gets pushed forward when you have multiple players operating in tandem is stunning. as someone who remembers this game's first GDQ appearances and the constant push to optimize it further, to see a time under an hour that's within a minute of the world record is nothing short of amazing.
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if you like your 3D Mario a little more classic, but still crave historic improvement on long-standing records, i absolutely have to shout out Super Mario 64. i still remember when the infamous Big House in the Sky "carpetless" route was nothing more than a theoretical glimmer in runners' eyes, so to see it executed so cleanly in a marathon setting felt like a monument to years of running, and proof that these games will never really be done blowing our minds.
AEW FIGHT FOREVER
one of my honorable mentions for AGDQ 2025 was Block Dude, a strange little calculator game that was effectively Trojan horsed into the marathon through the interstitial team. at the time, i noted that it felt like a low-key moment for GDQ, that the high-effort video production would be something to look back on as the beginning of something new within the marathon's history. i am extremely excited to report that that's already started to pay off big time. i am fully donning the sicko shirt and laughing in the window thinking about the broadcast production chops behind AEW Fight Forever, which was as much a show as it was a speedrun.
tucked between a high-profile hot-off-the-presses run and what the schedule officially designated as the start of Silly Block, AEW Fight Forever felt like a little miracle to catch live. at 1am local time, GDQ put together a crowd of ecstatic fans, ready to chant any ridiculous phrase the run threw at them and armed with a plethora of signs espousing the virtues of Final Fantasy XIV or demanding that we "STAY UP FOR NUBBY COWARDS".
speedrunner and actual real independent wrestler t0uchan got a full-blown entrance coming onto the couch, and wound up in a heated feud with producer Evan, ultimately coming to kayfabe blows and being removed from the run. this was truly a full-on production, that also still wound up being an exceptionally silly speedrun, with unfortunate losses demanding trip after trip to the LAX baggage claim. the complete and utter commitment to this run's bit - and the way it kept evolving as everyone involved realized how hard the crowd was willing to go - absolutely cements this one as an all-timer to me.
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i'm no coward and did, in fact, stay up for Nubby's Number Factory! even if it wasn't an officially designated 'silly' game, this is absolutely the place to shout out the incredible talent of Silly Block, which i always appreciate and managed to pull an all-nighter for. the aforementioned Nubby race proved to be a fascinating fever dream that got me to buy the game shortly before a legendary throw, An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs already has baked-in 2am delirium which made it a perfect 2am delirious run, Skate Horse's nightmarish controls brought the run to a thrilling brush with death, and Sega Marine Fishing gave me one last dose of extreme bit commitment before i crashed out for the 'night' at 9am.
SAYONARA MARIO WORLD 2
if you've read these lists before, you know what i'm about; i love kaizo. i love that games that trace their lineage back to what was essentially an elaborate prank have developed such a rich community that keeps a 35-year old platformer thriving with absurd mechanics that push it far past what would seem like the logical limits of the SNES, i love the energy the people who run these games bring, and i love going "how in the goddamn world can you even do that" every single time, no matter how much i've watched. whenever Shoujo's lined up to do a run, it's basically the first thing i expect to put on my highlight list, and Sayonara Mario World 2 is no exception, bringing the same mix of absurdly refined gameplay and hilarious out-of-nowhere commentary that i crave. for as much as i try to shake this list up, Shoujo really is just that good, and kaizo really is blowing me away time and time again.
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in what i didn't realize was a first for GDQ, we also got to see the other side of the Super Mario World coin on the main stage, with A Plumber For All Seasons. i love that the community (shout-out to SMW Central!) has come full circle and that 'standard' hacks meant for more free-flowing, approachable gameplay have become such a cornerstone in SMW culture, and as if seeing this utterly gorgeous game wasn't enough, we also got to see yet another master of Mario pull off an astonishing personal best on-stage.
BALATRO
Balatro is one of those games where watching high-level gameplay can feel attainable at one moment, and then completely beyond my skillset the next. speedrunning the game requires a slightly different approach than simply racking up the highest score, and cloiss put on an absolute clinic, blazing through deck after deck so fast that he got the go-ahead to add an eighth just so the rest of the marathon could catch up. much like its casino-tinged roots, Balatro can sway back and forth between being so over and so back on a dime, but even with each hurdle, the on-the-spot decision making to build a winning set of jokers - and the ease with which cloiss lays out the mechanisms of these builds for "the 12 people who haven't played Balatro" - makes this run an absolute treat to watch.
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this is a big one. this is the biggest shout-out i can give! i'm shouting through the computer, outward, as hard as i can!!!
Blue Prince falls into the same "i'm warning you not to watch it until you've beaten it" puzzle game niche as The Outer Wilds. self-assured in the knowledge that i'm either not built for Myst-likes or will sufficiently forget any solutions by the time i decide to dip my toes in, i took one for the team to check this run out. if you are in a position to watch this bingo race; yes, absolutely, it's really good! i'm an absolute sucker for bingo as a way to test runners' overall game knowledge and create unique on-the-fly routing, and the way this Blue Prince run uses the trappings of the game itself to shake up the format was extremely fun to watch, even as someone who knew nothing going in. in the interest of not putting off any readers who are still knee-deep in solving the mansion's mysteries, it's not on the main list, but it's about as close as a shout-out can get, and i will always, always show up for bingo.
DELTARUNE
this one is definitely a bit of a sentimental pick. i haven't written about it on this website - it'd be hard to capture everything i love about the game, and "Deltarune is really good" is not an especially unique take in the first place - but Deltarune, even at its self-proclaimed halfway point, is already gunning to be one of my favorite games of all time. combine that with the infectious energy of a GDQ finale crowd, and it's hard to resist giving this run the last nod on this list.
a big part of why i love this run is how much it feels like it's riding the cultural zeitgeist of a fresh new release, with all sorts of donations alluding to Asgore's infamous truck or proclaiming love for Mr. Ant Tenna's TV Time. it feels like a time capsule, like something i'll be able to go back and reminisce on when Deltarune's seven chapters are complete. don't get me wrong, though; sentimentality is hardly the only factor at play here, given how absurdly good Shayy is at this game. Toby Fox pushed the idea of a scripted loss to its absolute limits by making a technical 'win' possible in the sense of just barely ekeing out a slightly less catastrophic defeat, and speedrunners have opted to meet the occasion, routing it in as another boss that cannot be skipped over. if you know, you know, and everyone knew what the highlight of this finale would be, and like... dude, what the hell, how do you even do that fight that good.
while i do lament that the crowd's energy couldn't be channeled towards one last bonus fight that seems quite literally perfect for the unique live elements of GDQ, i have a sneaking suspicion this won't be the last time Deltarune has the honor of being the marathon's finale, so the runback's not off the table. picking such a fresh game for the event's capstone seems to have been a bit of a controversial choice for viewers who haven't beaten the new chapters yet, but i'm fully ready to be here, all old and wrinkly, cheering for Deltarune the same way a generation of SNESheads cheered for Chrono Trigger back when GDQ crested $3 million for the first time. that's for another time, though; here and now, Shayy did an absolute fantastic job showing why Deltarune is already so beloved.
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if we're talking long, high-energy RPG showcases, nobody's doing it better and more consistently than the Pokémon speedrunning community, and the Sword & Shield Eeveelution 'trade alt' race was an absolute treat to tune in to throughout the afternoon, showing on an interesting side of Pokémon running that had somehow never occured to me, while taking on a life of its own with layer after layer of new in-jokes developing on-stage.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
as always, the Summer Games Done Quick schedule was packed to the brim, and even with ten entries and ample shout-outs attached therein, i've still got more ground to cover. the newly-released Monster Hunter Wilds pulled off an impressive double feature, showcasing both a head-to-head lockout bingo and a co-op hunting extravaganza back-to-back to cover the diverse spectrum of monsters and monster hunting. i don't have the type of brain that gloms onto Monster Hunter, but i can really see the appeal watching it played at such a high level, and i think this was a really unique way to show off a newer game that has a wider gamut than just one run would allow for; during the event recap, the crew seemed pretty positive about the idea of doing these types of dual showcases where applicable, and i want to echo as a viewer that it's a really fun way to learn the ins and outs of a new game.
on the subject of GDQ trying new things, i also want to shout out Community Clash, a speedrunning gameshow with answers polled from GDQ viewers. over the last few years - as you can probably see reflected on this list, even - i think that something that's helped set GDQ apart and emphasized the scale of the 'big stage' is the ability to take something that might be a fun bit performed remotely on a runner's own stream and dial it up to 11 with the energy of a live crowd. there's a opportunity to really put on a showcase, and it's fitting that bryonato, who's recent Call of Duty 4 run also came with an interactive word puzzle to spice up an autoscroller, has now gotten to cohost a full-on quiz show for the event. obviously, speedrunning will always be the heart and soul of Games Done Quick, but it's been really fun seeing how runners show off not only their game of choice and their expertise, but also bring the fun that's developed within their scenes along with them when gathering for such a great cause. i feel like we're in a bit of a Dropout-fueled "game shows are cool and fun, actually" renaissance, and i can't wait to see what kinds of new submissions ripple out from moments like this.
when it comes to new things in the general sense of things that are new to the world; Mario Kart World! i wrote about that not too long ago, didn't i! it's still developing as a speedrun, but seeing something barely even a month old and hearing about how those first few weeks have already been full of new discoveries is a really fun showcase, and one that i'm glad GDQ went out of their way to make happen.
and, as always, my final shout-out is that you should go check out the full schedule for yourself! i am but one person. not only do i have to sleep sometimes, which means i'll have to double back to runs like Arctic Eggs after the fact, but i also have my own tastes. try as i might to overcome my biases and make sure that my lists are diverse and highlight as many of the amazingly talented people at GDQ as possible, i cannot deny in my heart that i love kaizo, or that i don't watch a lot of RPG runs. your offical Game HYPERFIXT Has Never Played And Wasn't Awake For But I'm Saying It Because What If You Didn't Know It Was There And What If You Go "Oh Dude I Love That Game" of SGDQ 2025 is... let's go with Strider on NES, with a two-players-one-controller run.
the more things change, the more they stay the same; though outwardly, the main difference might just be that the prize presentation team has been shuffled around, seeing the event recap and thinking about the marathon as a whole reminded me that, oh yeah, this is the first Games Done Quick with a new head of programming! in a lot of ways, this marks a bit of a new era for GDQ, but at the same time, i think SGDQ 2025 felt like it hadn't missed a beat, carrying on with all the bold new ideas and improved technical finesse that the last few years of events have brought. there's really never been a better time to watch video games being played fast online, and i'm extremely excited to see how the communities that power these events continue to push the envelope on what Games Done Quick can be.
and, echoing my sentiments from this past AGDQ, i really, truly have to go one day. the past six months, as usual, have proven that i'm not especially good at staying in touch with these communities between the two big tentpoles of GDQ, which makes me think that i'll end up in Pittsburgh and spend the whole week playing baby-mode Pump It Up in the arcade out of a deep fear of being out of sync with all kinds of funny talented people i admire, but having watched these events for almost eight years now, i'm starting to really consider it. not only am i seeing the marathon grow into a more well-rounded attendee experience with new additions like an artist alley, but i'm also realizing that, for as much as i feel outside of all of this, i care a lot, and in trying times, it might do me some good to be around other people who care a lot, if i can get over myself.
all that being said, whether i take the dive or watch from the sidelines, i still absolutely love Games Done Quick, and it feels like big things are on the horizon. on top of Fatales events and expanding out with Games Done Queer this coming October, a statistic that came up at the tailend of SGDQ 2025 was that their donation system is approaching its one millionth individual contribution, having also crossed the threshold of over 25 million dollars cumulatively raised for Médecins Sans Frontières over the past twelve years. with major milestones left and right, a team that's finding their own voice for how to keep expanding GDQ, and my tried and true "2025 sounds like a fake year, 2026 sounds real" hypothesis, i'm feeling real good about whatever's coming next January.