Speedrunning

A competitive scene built almost entirely around finding and exploiting the bugs a game's own developers never meant to be there.

Cheat Sheet

Speedrunning is the practice of completing a video game, or a specific portion of it, as quickly as possible, often exploiting glitches and obscure mechanics along the way.
Runs are typically categorized by ruleset — "any%" (finish by any means necessary) versus "100%" (complete every objective) are among the most common categories.
Glitches, unintended behaviors in a game's code that speedrunners discover and exploit, are often central to top-tier runs, sometimes skipping large chunks of a game entirely.
Speedrunning events like Games Done Quick combine competitive runs with live charity fundraising, raising tens of millions of dollars for causes over the events' history.
Runs must typically be verified against strict rules (using unmodified game software, providing video proof) before being accepted onto official leaderboards.
Community-maintained sites like speedrun.com serve as the sport's central hub, hosting leaderboards, rules, and video submissions across thousands of games.

The 60-Second Version

Speedrunning is the practice of completing a video game, or a specific portion of it, as quickly as possible, often exploiting glitches and obscure mechanics along the way. Runs are typically categorized by ruleset, with "any%" (finish by any means necessary) and "100%" (complete every objective) among the most common categories. Glitches, meaning unintended behaviors in a game's code that speedrunners discover and exploit, are often central to top-tier runs, sometimes skipping large chunks of a game entirely. Speedrunning events like Games Done Quick combine competitive runs with live charity fundraising, raising tens of millions of dollars for causes over the events' history. Runs must typically be verified against strict rules, such as using unmodified game software and providing video proof, before being accepted onto official leaderboards. Community-maintained sites like speedrun.com serve as the sport's central hub, hosting leaderboards, rules, and video submissions across thousands of games.

The Long Version

What Counts as a "Run"

A speedrun is an attempt to complete a game, or a defined segment of it, in the shortest possible time, recorded and submitted according to a specific game's community-established rules. Because "completing a game" can mean very different things depending on the title and category chosen, speedrunning communities maintain detailed rulesets defining exactly what counts as a legitimate, comparable run.

Categories: Any%, 100%, and Beyond

The two most common category types are "any%," which only requires reaching the game's ending by whatever means possible, including skipping major content through glitches, and "100%," which requires completing every defined objective or collectible, testing thoroughness and route efficiency rather than pure speed alone. Many games also support additional specialized categories reflecting particular challenge runs or restricted rule sets popular within that game's specific community.

Glitches as a Legitimate Skill

Far from being considered cheating, discovering and executing glitches, unintended behaviors in a game's underlying code that produce unexpected shortcuts or sequence breaks, is one of speedrunning's most respected skills. Some of the most celebrated runs in speedrunning history are built around remarkably clever glitch exploitation that lets a runner skip entire sections of a game the developers never intended to be bypassed.

Charity Marathons and the Community Hub

Games Done Quick, a recurring marathon event held twice yearly, brings together top speedrunners to perform live runs broadcast online, explicitly built around raising money for charity, and has collectively raised tens of millions of dollars over its history. Community-maintained platforms like speedrun.com serve as the sport's organizational backbone, hosting official leaderboards, category rules, and verified video submissions across thousands of games, from major commercial releases to deep cult classics.

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Glossary

Any%: A speedrunning category requiring a player to finish the game by any means, without needing to complete every objective.
100%: A speedrunning category requiring completion of every defined objective or collectible in the game.
Glitch: An unintended game behavior, often exploited by speedrunners to save time or skip content.
Tool-Assisted Speedrun (TAS): A run created using tools like frame-by-frame input and save states, kept in a separate category from live human runs.
Games Done Quick: A recurring speedrunning marathon event combining competitive runs with live charity fundraising.