Have you ever watched a skilled gamer blaze through a familiar title in what seems like mere minutes, skipping entire sections, and performing impossible-looking maneuvers? This thrilling display of precision and mastery is the world of speedrunning. Far beyond simply finishing a game, speedrunning is an art form focused on completing a video game or a specific segment of it as quickly as humanly, or sometimes inhumanly, possible. It’s a vibrant subculture of the gaming community, blending intense competition, meticulous planning, and an unwavering passion for pushing the boundaries of interactive entertainment.

What Exactly is Speedrunning?

At its core, speedrunning is the act of playing a video game with the singular objective of achieving the fastest possible completion time. This isn’t just about casual playthroughs; it’s a deep dive into game mechanics, level design, and often, unintended behaviors to shave off every precious second. It transforms a game from a linear experience into a complex puzzle of optimization and execution.

The Goal: Fastest Time

Every speedrunner, whether a beginner or a seasoned pro, is driven by the desire for speed. This means understanding every nuance of the chosen game:

• Optimal Movement: Mastering character control to minimize wasted frames of movement.
• Efficient Routing: Discovering the quickest path through levels and objectives.
• Pixel-Perfect Execution: Performing precise inputs consistently, often under pressure.

The pursuit of the world record (WR) is the ultimate aspiration for many, while others focus on beating their personal bests (PBs) and climbing leaderboards.

Categories: Defining the Challenge

To standardize competition and allow for diverse playstyles, speedrunning is divided into various categories. These rulesets determine what is permissible during a run, ensuring fair comparisons.

• Any% Any%: The most popular category. The goal is to reach the credits as fast as possible, using any means necessary, including major glitches and exploits. This often leads to the most visually spectacular and broken runs. Example: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Any% runners often “wrong warp” to skip massive portions of the game.
• 100%: Requires the completion of all in-game objectives, collection of all items, or unlocking all achievements before reaching the credits. This category demands extensive knowledge of every corner of the game. Example: Super Mario 64 120-Star run, collecting every power star.
• Glitchless/No Major Glitches: A category where players complete the game without exploiting significant bugs or out-of-bounds techniques. It focuses more on pure platforming, combat, and puzzle-solving skill.
• Low%: The opposite of 100%; finish the game using as few items, upgrades, or kills as possible.
• Specific Character/All Bosses/Individual Level: Many games have niche categories that challenge players to complete specific segments, defeat all bosses, or use only certain characters.

Understanding these categories is crucial for any aspiring speedrunner to choose their preferred challenge and locate relevant communities on platforms like Speedrun.com.

Essential Speedrunning Terminology and Concepts

Diving into the speedrunning community means encountering a specialized vocabulary that describes the intricate strategies and techniques involved. Familiarity with these terms is key to understanding and participating in the scene.

Routing and Optimization

These two concepts are the backbone of any successful speedrun:

• Routing: This is the strategic planning phase where a speedrunner devises the most efficient path through a game. It involves identifying the quickest sequence of objectives, considering all known shortcuts, and anticipating potential obstacles. A good route minimizes travel time and maximizes progress. Actionable Takeaway: For beginners, start by following established routes from top players. Don’t try to invent your own route initially.
• Optimization: While routing covers the ‘what’ and ‘where,’ optimization focuses on the ‘how.’ It’s the continuous refinement of individual actions, movements, and combat strategies to save milliseconds. This includes perfect jumps, efficient enemy encounters, and precise menuing.

Glitches, Exploits, and Sequence Breaks

These are often the most thrilling and visually impressive aspects of video game speedruns:

• Glitches: Unintended behaviors or errors in a game’s code that can be manipulated for an advantage. This could be anything from walking through walls to corrupting game memory. Example: “Arbitrary Code Execution” (ACE) in some older games allows players to literally reprogram the game within the run to instantly win.
• Exploits: The intentional use of existing game mechanics in a way not originally intended by the developers to gain an advantage. This is distinct from a bug. Example: “Corner clipping” in many 3D games where precise movement into a corner can briefly clip a player through a wall.
• Sequence Breaks: Performing actions or reaching areas out of the intended order of the game’s progression. This often allows players to skip entire levels or narrative segments. Example: Using an item early to access a late-game area, like obtaining the Hookshot in an unexpected place in a Zelda game to cross a chasm.

The permissibility of these techniques depends entirely on the chosen game category.

RTA vs. IGT

When discussing times, it’s important to differentiate between two common measurement methods:

• Real-Time Attack (RTA): The most common method. This measures the actual time elapsed from the moment the player gains control to the moment the game is beaten (or category objective is met). This includes all loading screens, cutscenes, and menu navigation.
• In-Game Time (IGT): Some games have an internal clock that tracks play time, often pausing during loading screens or menu navigation. IGT provides a measurement of active gameplay. While some games use IGT for leaderboards, RTA is generally preferred for its transparency and consistency across different hardware setups.

Actionable Takeaway: Always check whether a game’s leaderboard uses RTA or IGT, as strategies can differ if load times are a factor.

The Speedrunner’s Toolkit: Software and Setup

Becoming a speedrunner requires more than just skilled gameplay; it involves utilizing specific tools to track, record, and analyze your runs. A proper setup ensures accurate timing, verifiable evidence, and effective practice.

Recording and Streaming Software

To prove your runs and share them with the community, reliable recording is essential:

• OBS Studio: A free and open-source software widely used for both streaming and local recording. It’s versatile, supporting various capture devices and configurations.
• XSplit: A popular alternative to OBS, offering a user-friendly interface and robust features, though often requiring a paid license for full functionality.
• Capture Card: If you’re running on a console, a capture card (e.g., Elgato, AverMedia) is necessary to send the console’s video output to your computer for recording.

Practical Detail: High-quality video evidence (at least 720p, preferably 1080p at 30/60fps) is usually a requirement for submitting runs to official leaderboards like Speedrun.com, ensuring fairness and preventing fraud.

Timer Tools

Tracking your time with precision is fundamental to speedrunning:

• LiveSplit: The industry standard for speedrunning timers. It’s free, highly customizable, and allows you to create “splits” (segments of the run) to track progress against your personal bests (PBs) or the current world record (WR). It shows live time differences, segment times, and overall progress.
• FramePerfect: Another robust timer tool, often favored for its frame-accurate timing capabilities.

Actionable Takeaway: Use LiveSplit from day one. It’s invaluable for identifying where you gain or lose time, helping you focus your practice.

Emulators vs. Console

The choice of platform impacts your setup and often the validity of your run in certain categories:

• Emulators: Software that mimics a game console on a PC.
  • Pros: Easier to set up for recording, built-in save states (excellent for practice), often allows for various quality-of-life improvements.
  • Cons: Can introduce input lag, potential for desyncs or subtle differences from original hardware (which might invalidate runs for some communities), requires powerful PC for demanding emulation.
• Original Console/Hardware: Playing on the actual console and game cartridge/disc.
  • Pros: Authentic experience, no emulation inaccuracies, often preferred by competitive communities for integrity.
  • Cons: Requires a capture card for recording, no save states for practice (unless modded), finding old hardware can be expensive.

Practical Detail: Many games have “emulator-friendly” categories, but for top-tier competition, original hardware is often a requirement.

Practice and Analysis Tools

Improving means more than just playing; it means deliberate practice and critical analysis:

• Save States (on Emulators): Allow instant saving and loading at any point, perfect for practicing tricky sections repeatedly without replaying earlier parts.
• Practice ROMs/Mods: Some communities develop modified game versions specifically for practice, offering features like teleportation, invincibility, or debug menus.
• Video Editors/Players: Software like VLC Media Player or DaVinci Resolve (free editor) can be used to slow down world record runs, analyze specific inputs, and compare them to your own footage frame-by-frame.

Actionable Takeaway: Don’t just play; analyze. Record your runs, identify mistakes, and focus practice on those specific sections using save states or similar tools.

Getting Started: Your First Speedrun

The world of speedrunning might seem daunting, but with a structured approach, anyone can begin their journey. The key is to start small, learn from others, and focus on consistent improvement.

Choose Your Game Wisely

The first step is arguably the most important. Your choice of game will heavily influence your early experiences:

• Pick a Game You Love: Enthusiasm is crucial. You’ll be playing this game countless times, so genuine enjoyment is a must.
• Start Simple: Avoid notoriously long or complex games for your first attempt. Opt for shorter, more linear games, or games with well-established and relatively straightforward beginner routes. Examples: Classic NES games, many indie platformers (like Celeste’s individual chapters), or arcade-style games.
• Look for Active Communities: A game with an active speedrunning community on Speedrun.com, Twitch, or Discord will provide invaluable resources, routing guides, and support.

Practical Detail: Speedrun.com is the definitive hub for finding games, categories, leaderboards, and community links. Browse their “Games” section for inspiration.

Research and Learn from the Best

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Leverage the knowledge of experienced runners:

• Watch World Record (WR) Runs: Go to YouTube or Twitch and search for “GAME NAME Any% WR” (or your chosen category). Pay close attention to movement, camera angles, menuing, and even subtle controller inputs.
• Consult Guides and Resources: Many games have written guides, video tutorials, or wikis detailing optimal routes, glitches, and strategies. These are often linked from the game’s page on Speedrun.com.
• Join Game-Specific Discord Servers: These communities are often the best places to ask questions, get feedback on your runs, and stay updated on new discoveries.

Actionable Takeaway: Don’t try to learn an entire run at once. Break it down. Focus on understanding the first few minutes, then the next segment, and so on.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Speedrunning is an exercise in muscle memory and precision. Consistent practice is non-negotiable:

• Segment Your Run: Using a timer like LiveSplit, create “splits” for logical sections of the game (e.g., “Level 1,” “First Boss,” “Dungeon X”). This allows you to practice individual segments repeatedly without replaying the entire game.
• Focus on Consistency: Initially, don’t worry about being the fastest. Aim for consistent, clean execution of each segment. Once you can reliably get through a section, then you can work on optimizing it for speed.
• Identify Trouble Spots: Pay attention to where you consistently lose time. Is it a difficult jump, a complex enemy pattern, or a tricky glitch? Isolate those sections and practice them until they become second nature.
• Record and Review: Always record your practice runs. Watching your own gameplay back allows for critical self-analysis. Compare your attempts to successful runs to pinpoint differences.

Practical Detail: The 80/20 rule often applies: 20% of the route might account for 80% of the time saves or difficulty. Focus your practice heavily on these high-impact sections.

Join the Community

Speedrunning is as much a community endeavor as it is a solitary challenge:

• Engage with Fellow Runners: Share your progress, ask for advice, and offer encouragement to others. The community is generally supportive and eager to help new members.
• Attend Events (Online/IRL): Watch speedrunning marathons like Games Done Quick (GDQ) or European Speedrunner Assembly (ESA) to see high-level play, discover new games, and feel the excitement of the community.
• Submit Your Runs: Once you’ve completed a full run you’re proud of, submit it to Speedrun.com. This is how you get your name on the leaderboards and contribute to the collective knowledge base.

Actionable Takeaway: Don’t be afraid to reach out! Most speedrunners are happy to share tips and resources with beginners. That social aspect can be a huge motivator.

Conclusion

Speedrunning is a testament to human ingenuity, perseverance, and passion for video games. It transforms familiar digital worlds into playgrounds for extreme optimization, intricate planning, and lightning-fast reflexes. From the thrill of discovering a new route to the satisfaction of shaving milliseconds off a personal best, the journey of a speedrunner is one of continuous learning and mastery.

Whether you’re aiming for a world record or simply looking for a new way to enjoy your favorite title, embracing the basics of routing, understanding categories, utilizing the right tools, and engaging with the vibrant gaming community will set you on a rewarding path. So, pick a game, hit that timer, and start your incredible journey into the world of pushing games to their absolute limits. The next great discovery, or perhaps the next world record, could be yours.