Video Games for a Good Cause: Games Done Quick Explainer

Ever felt guilty for the hundreds of hours you’ve spent binging Twitch? Watching masterful gamers conquer the best titles of all time is a noble pursuit in and of itself, but what if it could be helping the world become a better place? Look no further than the year’s biggest gaming charity event: Games Done Quick.

Twice a year for a whole week, the best speedrunners in the world come together to raise money for great causes and the love of the game. Games Done Quick hosts two annual events. Awesome Games Done Quick in January and Summer Games Done Quick in late June or early July. Watch masters at their craft do what they do best: demolish amazing games by speedrunning them. For those who are totally lost at this point, speedrunning is a term for completing a game as fast as you can. Over the course of seven days, players use a variety of styles like 100% (completing every achievement in a game), glitchless (turbo-ing through a game without exploiting any glitches or bugs), any % (completing the game with any percentage of achievements done), and all bosses (beating every boss in a game). 

The event was inspired in part by “Desert Bus for Hope”, where gamers played the meme of a game, Desert Bus. The goal of the game? Drive a bus across the desert. What started as a funny exercise in tedium to raise money for a good cause ballooned into a major fundraiser, and GDQ took that idea and ran with it. Awesome Games Done Quick raises money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Summer Games Done Quick helps fund Doctors Without Borders. 

Join the legions of fans GDQ has gathered since it’s start in 2010. You can tune in and donate to your favorite streamers this year June 26th to July 3rd. After going online-only during quarantine, Summer Games Done Quick returns to in-person events this year. Which you can still watch from the comfort of your own home via Twitch. Tune in for the whole event or wait until your favorite game comes on and donate to a good cause! You’ll never feel gamers' guilt again.