Summer Games Done Quick 2023 is over, so come watch Ratatouille cosplay

And just like that, Summer Games Done Quick 2023 is over. The summer segment of the speedrunning celebration wrapped up last weekend, having this year taken place slightly before summer for some reason. The event raised over $2 million for Doctors Without Borders, while also spawning an excellent Ratatouille speedrun/audition for award-winning chef drama The Bear.

The final total amounted to $2,239,919, with some final final donations still trickling in when the organiser's posted their wrap up post yesterday. As they highlight, that brings GDQ’s total charitable donations to over $46 million since they started 13 years ago.

It’s a charming, dare I say it, wholesome endeavour. Watching streams in full might require an interest in the nuts and bolts of speedrunning, but I still enjoy dropping by to see people talk in very calm voices while they manically hop through walls and contort themselves through the smallest, esoteric gaps in game worlds we’d normally regard as rigid and immutable.

Then there are treats like Adef’s chef-laden Ratatouille speedrun, who conjures up his own separate world and ruthlessly commits to the bit. Here’s a cute photo of his supporters.

Other highlights include Chronos_R’s epic yet somehow only 2 hour run of the entire Elder Scrolls series from Arena to Skyrim, and this pixel/frame perfect Peggle Deluxe shot from Britsha.

Their joy is infectious.

Awesome Games Done Quick 2024 will take place from Jan 7th - Jan 14th.