Games Done Quick (GDQ)
Games Done Quick (GDQ) started 13 years ago in Mike Uyama’s mother’s basement. Uyama, the founder of the speedrunning charity event, had a nice venue all picked out and ready to go before coming to the horrific realization that forced him to decamp: the internet was too slow.
“The original intent was to have it at MAGFest,” Uyama told The Verge over Zoom. “But their internet wasn’t good enough and my mom’s was, so that is why we had it in my mom’s basement.”
It is a semiannual video game speedrun charity marathon held in the United States, originally organized by the Speed Demos Archive and SpeedRunsLive communities. Since 2015, it has been handled by Games Done Quick, LLC. Held since 2010, the events have raised money for several charities.
The two flagship events held by Games Done Quick are Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ), held in early January every year, which raises money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, and Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ), usually held in late June or early July every year, which raises money for Doctors Without Borders. Both events last for seven days.
Since those less than auspicious beginnings, Games Done Quick has evolved into a biannual event that enthusiasts look forward to, clearing schedules, taking off work, and making special trips to its live events. It’s also raised over $41 million for charity, breaking its donation records almost every year. And after 13 years shepherding what’s thought of as a kind of gamer Christmas
Summer Games Done Quick 2024
It is a charity speedrunning event that takes place from June 30th to July 6th, 2024. It features talented gamers completing speedruns of classic and contemporary games. The event will be livestreamed on the GDQ Twitch channel from Minneapolis, MN. Some of the games in the spotlight include Baldur’s Gate 3, Elden Ring, Alan Wake II, Halo 3, and the Super Mario RPG remake. Whether you are attending in person or watching online, it is a great moment to enjoy impressive speedruns while supporting a good cause. Summer Games Done Quick, the week-long charity speedrun event, is set to kick off on 30th June and features a whole bunch of amazing skillful players.
Humble Offer Summer Games Done Quick(SGDQ)2024
Humber is providing the great opportunity of Summer Games Done Quick Bundle, with seven of the very games you can watch speedrunners demolish, offering a chance for you to play them as you watch and see just how much you need to continue to hone your skills.
The Summer Games Done Bundle 2024 comes with a tiered pricing system that lets you pick your price and the games you want. For $12, the lowest tier, you get three games: stealth immersive sim Dishonored, Contra-like side-scroller Blazing Chrome, and non-Euclidian first-person shooter Hyperbolica. Bump the price up to $15, and Humble adds The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore. At $20, we get the full seven-game bundle, adding Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 and Penny’s Big Breakaway.Humble Bundles provides charities as well as game developers, and you can pay more than the asking price to increase your donation.
Also notable in the SGDQ bundle are a couple of excellent Bethesda titles. Morrowind, of course, is the well-loved RPG that preceded The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the now truly ubiquitous The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but Morrowind has a special place in the hearts of many fans. Dishonored, developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda, is also worthy of your attention if you’ve never gotten around to playing it, whether you love slipping through various levels unseen or slicing through your foes with a mess of creative paranormal powers.
But there are a couple of recently released standouts you might not have heard of. Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is a side-scrolling Metroidvania that harkens back to the CD-ROM era–specifically to Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, the 1989 CD-i game that featured bad animation and worse voice acting. Arzette is playing with that same aesthetic to great effect, making it fast, fun, and funny in equal measure.
There is also Penny’s Big Breakaway, a 3D platformer drawing a lot from the aesthetic, vibe, and gameplay of 3D Sonic games–in fact, it was developed by Evening Star, a studio formed from the fan developers responsible for Sonic Mania. An extremely colorful art style compliments its fast and reactive approach to platforming.
