It’s the first week of July, a transition period between the marketing machine’s non-E3 festivities and a surprisingly packed summer release schedule. As Americans prepare to celebrate another glorious Independence Day in the wake of insane Supreme Court decisions and a retiring president, I can’t think of a better time to sit back, crack open a cold beer, and roll your eyes at dozens of hours of top-notch speedruns.
Summer Games Done Quick is back with a week-long festival where speedrunning experts showcase their favorite games and the high-level strategies, secret shortcuts, and absurd glitches they exploit to beat them as quickly as possible. The event kicked off on Sunday and runs through Saturday, July 6, with 24/7 streams of everything from recent blockbusters and indie darlings to retro classics and forgotten gems. And the entire event raises money for Doctors Without Borders, which provides medical assistance to those in need around the world. including victims of the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip.
The full schedule of speedruns is available on the group’s websitebut there are a lot of things that have already happened that are worth watching via VODs uploaded to the site. SGDQ Twitch And YouTube Channels (They are much better at uploading runs immediately than in years past.) There is also a really handy overview of every stream so far and the corresponding VOD link in the Speedrunning subreddit.
Highlights so far include ShovelClaws’ Playthrough from Pepper milla beautiful game from 2024 full of cool mechanics and fascinating gameplay, Carrarium Championship by custom Sky blue Maps, including Kaizo-inspired levels, Stelmo98’s run of Sound P-06an unofficial remake from 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog, Cixah’s dominance by Poker Roguelite BalatroAnd Monkeysmbs Tour through the spooky pixel adventure Metroid Fusion.
Other great games of all time were also presented, such as Halo2, Tomb Raider I-III RemasteredAnd silent Hill. But while it’s always great to watch a scholar guide you through a classic, some of my favorite moments at any SGDQ are those that serve only to entertain, bring people together, and showcase the personalities of the participants, how people wobbling to the Cloudjin in Yoshi’s Story or the implementation of the Herald of Darkness dance number by Alan-Wake 2.
What’s planned for the rest of the week? I don’t even know where to start. On Wednesday there will be a power cut from Mirror edge in PowerWash Simulatorwith Kaizo Mario Galaxy later that day. On July 4th, it will Celeste 64, Halo3And An axeI am also very much looking forward to Animal fountain on Friday, an incredible new Metroidvania full of puzzles and secrets that is one of my favorite games of the year so far. On Saturday, things start off with a bang with Baldur’s Gate 3, Fire ringand a lot Mario.
Whatever you plan to do for the rest of the week, take a few minutes here and there to enjoy the incredible atmosphere of SGDQ. I mean it when I say it will restore your faith in gaming and maybe even in humanity, at least a little bit.
