Awesome Games Done Quick 2023 Begins This Sunday

So the bad news is that the holidays are over…the colorful lights around the neighborhood are all disappearing, never to be seen for another 11 months. The good news is…as soon as it all ends, Awesome Games Done Quick usually begins. The charity marathon starts up again at 9 AM Pacific this Sunday, with proceeds benefiting the Prevent Cancer Foundation.

AGDQ is made up of the world’s best video game speedrunners, who use tricks and glitches to blast through your favorite games as quickly as possible. The first game to be run this year is Splatoon 3, the last one is Super Mario 3, and in between we have Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Bomberman 64, Shovel Knight Dig, Breath of the Wild in a half-hour, Frogun, Goat Simulator, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and dozens of others. New hit games that didn’t exist at the last AGDQ will make their premieres, like Stray, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge and Neon White. And someone named pokeguy says they can get through Pokemon Red in two hours without using glitches. Is it possible? Find out live.

Throughout the event there will be prizes to enter for and bonus game runs to sponsor with your cash. All donations go 100% to the Prevent Cancer Foundation — the sponsors you’ll see onscreen are paying for the cost of the event itself.

This year’s AGDQ also marks the departure of founder Mike Uyama, who will be making this event his last. “Since I started Games Done Quick, I’ve seen it grow from a small volunteer effort to the thriving organization that it is today,” said Uyama. “I would not have been able to do it without the help of Matt Merkle and the growth of GDQ would not have been possible without the help of the speedrunning community, which has grown both in size and diversity over the years. I’m not sure where I’ll go next, but one thing I am sure about is that I will take a break and a vacation before diving headfirst into my next adventure.”

Awesome Games Done Quick starts this Sunday on Twitch. Watch on any Twitch app and on the GDQ website.