The annual Awesome Games Done Quick speedrunning event for charity is just days away, with the pre-show starting at 11:30 a.m. PT on Sunday, January 5, and the first speedrun featuring "A Hat in Time" will begin at noon.

Since its debut in 2010, AGDQ has grown into a very popular fundraising event: last year's Speed Run-a-thon raised over $2.4 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. The summer spinoff, Summer Games Done Quick, raised even bigger numbers in 2019, raising more than $3 million for Doctors Without Borders. Along with SGDQ, it is also the premier showcase for speedrunners (a unique subculture that seeks to finish games as quickly as possible (and often by any means possible)) and those who enjoy watching them perform.

One of the things I find most interesting about Games Done Quick is the breadth of games that the speedrunners are challenged to play: at AGDQ 2020, we've seen "Mega Man 7," "Dino Crisis 2," "Myst 3: Exile," "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ", "Hotline Miami", "Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends", "BioShock", "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines", "Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+", and many more; Destiny 2's Raid " There will also be a six-man team to "all encompass" Last Wish, and an all-out run by the speedrunner formerly known as Tomatoanus, who will blast through the entire Fallout anthology in record time.

Speedrunners use all sorts of tricks and exploits to get from start to finish as quickly as possible, but there are also rules to follow. For example, Amid Evil's speedrun is Any% Out of Bounds, which is essentially an unrestricted run ("just do the levels as fast as you can without respecting the boundaries.")

The full schedule for Awesome Games Done Quick 2020 is available at gamesdonequick.com and will be broadcast live on Twitch. The event will also be broadcast live on Twitch.