Speedrunning Explained: How Players Finish Games in Record Time

Speedrunning is the practice of completing a video game as quickly as possible. What started as a niche pastime among friends comparing times has grown into a large, welcoming community with charity marathons, online leaderboards and runners who spend years shaving fractions of a second off their records. Watching a skilled speedrun can feel like seeing a familiar game completely transformed.

You do not need to be a world-class player to enjoy speedrunning. Many people run games simply to master something they love, and the community is famously supportive of beginners.

Categories: the rules of the race

Every speedrun follows a set of agreed rules known as a category. The category defines what counts as finishing the game. Some common examples include:

• Any%: reach the end credits by any means allowed, regardless of how much of the game you complete.
• 100%: collect or complete everything the category defines, such as all items or all levels.
• Glitchless: finish the game without using bugs or glitches that break the intended design.
• Low%: finish while collecting as little as possible.

Categories are usually decided by each game’s community, which maintains its rules on leaderboard websites. This keeps comparisons fair, since everyone in the same category is attempting the same challenge.

Routes and planning

A route is the planned path through the game. Runners figure out the fastest order to visit areas, which items are essential and which can be skipped entirely. Routing is a creative, collaborative process. Players test ideas, share discoveries and sometimes overturn years of assumptions with a single new trick.

Glitches and techniques

Many speedruns use clever techniques, from precise movement tricks that build extra speed to glitches that let players pass through walls or skip sections. Some techniques require frame-perfect timing, meaning the input must land within a sixtieth of a second. Others are about knowledge, such as manipulating random events by performing actions in a particular order.

Not every category allows glitches, which is why many games have both glitched and glitchless leaderboards. Each offers a different kind of challenge.

How timing works

Most runners use a split timer, a small program that shows the overall time along with “splits” for each section. Comparing splits with a personal best shows exactly where time was gained or lost. Communities define precisely when timing starts and stops, for example from the first frame of control to the final hit on a boss.

Runs submitted to leaderboards usually require video proof, so moderators can verify that the rules were followed.

Real time and game time

Some games are timed in real time, measured as it passes in the real world. Others use in-game time or remove loading screens from the total, because loading speeds differ between hardware. Leaderboard rules always explain which method applies.

Why people enjoy it

Speedrunning appeals to people for different reasons. Some love the pursuit of mastery and the satisfaction of steady improvement. Others enjoy the puzzle-like process of discovering new routes. Many simply like the community: sharing tips, cheering each other on and watching live streams. Charity marathons, where runners perform live for fundraising, have raised substantial sums for good causes over the years.

How to start your first speedrun

If you would like to try it, here is a gentle way in:

1. Pick a game you already know and enjoy. You will be playing it a lot.
2. Look up the leaderboard. Find the game’s page on a speedrunning community site and read the category rules.
3. Watch a few runs. Focus on one category and note the route the top runners use.
4. Practice sections, not just full runs. Repeating difficult parts is far more efficient than restarting from the beginning.
5. Set up a timer. Free split-timer programs are easy to configure.
6. Aim to beat yourself. Your first goal is simply to improve your own time.

Keep it healthy

Speedrunning can involve a lot of repetition. Take regular breaks, stretch your hands and wrists, and stop when practice stops being enjoyable. Progress often comes faster after rest than through long, frustrated sessions.

Speedrunning is ultimately a celebration of games. Whether you run, watch or just enjoy the clever discoveries, it offers a fresh way to appreciate titles you thought you knew inside out.