AGDQ 2025 kicks off this weekend with live band Crazy Taxi, Elden Ring on sax and much more.

It’s finally time for the most exciting live competition of the year. No, I don’t mean the Super Bowl – it’s time for Awesome Games Done Quick, the annual charity speed marathon that brings together a week of talented gamers showcasing the wildest things they can do with video games.

Games Done Quick (GDQ) has been running for 15 years, since 2010. The event is a live-streamed speed marathon in which speed runners take turns playing video games as fast as possible, often in crazy and particularly spectacular ways. In recent years, the events have featured increasingly ambitious performances, including blindfolded or one-handed racing, two-player games using a single controller, showcases of tricky arcade games, and as well as speedrun by dogs.

The annual event is held to raise money for the Prevent Cancer foundation, which previously raised $3,442,033 in 2022, and $2,539,832 last year. And this year’s marathon has some pretty ridiculous races on the docket. There’s a performance by Crazy Taxi backed by a live band, someone playing sax Elden Ring, Super Mario Bros. The new Wii racing while simultaneously playing the piano, Breath of the Wild’s two player single controller, lots of random decks. races, and it all ends with a Map Randomizer Race between the best Super Metroid racers. If you’ve never seen GDQ, it’s worth tuning in.

AGDQ 2025 starts at 09:00 on Sunday, January 5 with Pikmin on Nintendo Switch, followed by Portal 2. In fact, Sunday is full of announcements: Kirby’s Air Ride continues, there’s an Astro Bot race, and then there’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, a race famous for appearing every year at GDQ and getting shorter as the community discovers new ones. jumps to change running.

not specified — Awesome Games Done Quick 2024, photo by Wes “Fish” Chan

If I keep going, I’ll be listing every race from the entire event, so here’s a quick list of highlights that you should definitely check out. Definitely the pinnacle official website Check out the full schedule because there are some great races that I haven’t listed here, and the schedule will change constantly throughout the week.

sunday

9:00am PT: Pikmin – All Parts
10:24 AM: Portal 2 – No single player SLA
13:56: Ori and the Blind Forest – Randomizer World Tour 11
15:30: Astro Bot – Any%
18:19: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – Any%
21:14: Alan Wake 2: Night Springs – All Episodes
22:01: Alan Wake 2: The Lake House – Any%

monday

09:54 PT: UFO 50 – Various game demo
10:51: Super Meat Boy – Any %
11:37 AM: Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS – SMC Any% No Auto
15:00: Metroid Prime – Any% Inbounds Race
16:42: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Any% 2 Players 1 Controller
18:45: Horizon: Forbidden Rest – NG+ Story

tuesday

07:47 PT: Unicorn Overlord – Any% Story
08:26: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana – All Main Stories
10:18: Spyro: Reignited Trilogy – Spyro 1, Any% NBS
13:25: Super Mario Bros. – Any% STA
18:20: The Last of Us: Left Behind – Remake – Grounded
20:05: Silent Hill 2 (2024) – Limited new light game

Wednesday

08:51 PT: Sonic X Shadow Generations – Any %
10:23: Pokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu!/Eevee! – Any% Pikachu/Eevee
13:43: New Super Mario Bros. Wii – Any% While playing the piano
15:30: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze – Any% Original Mode
17:07: Fallout: New Vegas – All Romances
17:52: Super Mario 64 – A-Button Challenge TAS Exhibition
18:27: Rocket League – Workshop Map Speedrun Showcase
19:24: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Main Quest

At 8:24 PM PT, GDQ will begin the block of games that have been affectionately referred to as “Awful Games Done Quick” or “Awful Block” in recent years. These are games that are silly, janky, broken, or of questionable quality, and they always run at some ridiculous speeds. The first run, Superman 64, you’ve probably heard of before, but the rest you might not. The Awful Block is on all night Wednesday into the early hours of Thursday morning. Speaking from experience, I recommend that you have insomnia and watch all night to see. The block ends with Kevin Costner’s Waterworld at 3.11am on Thursday.

thursday

10:55am PT: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – All Dungeons
15:00: Lies of P – Any% Glitchless
17:02: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Any %
18:55: CHUNITHM LUMINOUS PLUS – Arcade Showcase

friday

02:36 PT: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth – Any% Easy
09:21: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – Tightened Vice
15:00: Tetris: The Grand Master – Multi Game Showcase
16:00: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 48 tracks (DLC) 200cc, no items
17:45: Kaizo Mario World 3 – 100%
18:52: jubeat copious APPEND – Showcase
20:07: Super Mario World – 96 Exit Race

Saturday

Seriously, stop sleeping and watch all day Saturday. I want to list all games here. It starts with Peggle Extreme and Metal Gear Solid, for Pete’s sake! There is nothing wrong with the program! Okay, okay, my editor said I need to narrow it down:

06:57 PT: Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire – Any% Race
10:32: Elden Ring – DLC Lockout Bingo
12:52: Elden Ring – Saxophone Controlled Boss Showcase
13:27: Live support team with Crazy Taxi – Crazy Box
14:30: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – No Logic Randomizer
18:35: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom – Any%
19:55: Super Metroid – Map Randomizer Race

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at IGN. You can find her post on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.