UPDATED 10:45 EST / JANUARY 04 2016

NEWS

Awesome Games Done Quick returns with a week of game speedruns for charity

Awesome Games Done Quick (AGDQ) has once again returned with its week long livestreaming marathon in which various gamers complete speedruns of dozens of games while taking donations for a charitable organization. The event itself is taking place in Herndon, Virginia, just outside Washington D.C., but you can catch all of the action on the Games Done Quick Twitch channel.

This week’s event, which runs through January 10, benefits the Prevent Cancer Foundation, an American nonprofit whose mission is “saving lives across all populations through cancer prevention and early detection.” The AGDQ event organizers noted on their website that the Prevent Cancer Foundation is the only American nonprofit to focus specifically on cancer prevention and early detection, and the foundation has invested $138 million into cancer research, education, and other areas.

An AGDQ event last year raised over $1.5 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, with the top single donation coming out to over $200,000. AGDQ has also previously raised money for Doctors Without Borders.

For information on how to donate to the AGDQ event, you can visit the site’s donation page.

AGDQ speedruns: Any%, 100% completion, and more

Unless you follow the speedrunning scene closely, it can be easy to get a little confused by all of the terminology thrown around for the various types of playthroughs, so here is a quick break down of the main categories of speedruns.

Any%: This is generally the fasted type of speedrun, as the only requirement is that the player complete the game as quickly as possible without requiring them to accomplish any bonus or side content. This often also includes exploiting glitches that allow the player to move more quickly or skip large portions of game content.

100%: On the opposite end of the spectrum, 100% completion runs require players to gather every collectible and complete every side quest. For example, a 100% completion of Mario 64 would require the player to collect all 120 stars.

Hard: This speedrun type can also be called Expert, Master, Insane, and so on depending on the game. This category requires players to complete the game on the highest difficulty setting possible, and it is often paired with either the Any% or 100% play types.

Others: There are also multiple special speedrun types that are usually game specific. For example, there might be a rule that player’s cannot level up or use upgrades. In other games, they may be required to complete the game without killing anyone or without dying themselves.

Screenshot via GamesDoneQuick | Twitch

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