Speedrunning takes a simple idea, finishing a game as fast as possible, and turns it into a deep competitive hobby with rulebooks, world records, and a culture of open knowledge-sharing. What looks like chaotic button-mashing to a newcomer is usually the product of hundreds of hours of practice, frame-perfect timing, and a community that documents every trick in public. Millions of people who will never attempt a run still watch speedruns for the same reason they watch any sport: the thrill of mastery under pressure.
Categories: The Rules of the Race
You cannot compare two runs unless they follow the same rules, so the community defines categories that specify exactly what counts as a completed run. The same game often has several coexisting categories, each with its own record holder.
- Any%: reach the end by any means necessary, using every allowed shortcut and glitch.
- 100%: complete everything the game defines as full completion, such as all items or collectibles.
- Glitchless: finish without exploiting bugs, rewarding pure execution over exploits.
- Low%: finish with the minimum possible upgrades or items, a puzzle of restraint.
Categories are maintained by community moderators who write detailed rules to close loopholes and settle disputes. When a new trick emerges that changes the fastest route, the community may split a category or create a new one so older records are not simply erased.
Why Glitches Are Celebrated, Not Cheating
To outsiders, using a bug to skip half a game sounds like cheating. Within speedrunning it is often the whole point. A glitch is only usable if it can be performed within the game's own code without external tools, and discovering one can rewrite the record books overnight. Runners study games at an almost engineering level, learning how the software loads memory, handles collision, and tracks progress, then find inputs that push the game into unintended but legal states.
Famous examples include out-of-bounds movement, where a player clips through a wall and walks behind the level, and sequence breaks, where clever routing lets a runner reach a late area far earlier than designers intended. The line the community enforces is strict: manipulating the game from inside using a controller is fair, while modifying the game or using automated tools is not, except in a clearly separate category described below.
Tool-Assisted Speedruns Are a Different Sport
A tool-assisted speedrun, or TAS, uses emulator features like slowing time and rewinding to build a theoretically perfect run input by input. A TAS is not a human performance and is never mixed with live records. Instead it serves as research, revealing the absolute limits of a game and inspiring tricks that skilled humans then try to perform in real time. Keeping TAS clearly separate protects the integrity of human records.
How Records Are Verified
Because a world record carries real prestige, verification is taken seriously. Runs are submitted with unbroken video, and moderators review the footage for signs of splicing, save-file abuse, or rule violations before a time is accepted onto a leaderboard. High-level runs often show a live timer and require the full attempt in one continuous recording so there is no gap to hide an edit.
The community's biggest showcase is a series of charity marathons where top runners perform live for a global audience while raising money for causes, an event that has helped push speedrunning into the mainstream. If you want to try it yourself, the path is welcoming.
- Pick a game you already love and know well.
- Read its category rules and watch a current world-record run with commentary.
- Learn one or two beginner-friendly tricks before attempting a full route.
- Time your runs and submit to a leaderboard once you are proud of a clean attempt.
What keeps people coming back is the culture of shared knowledge. Nearly every trick, route, and strategy is documented in public guides and forums, because the community would rather see the record fall to someone better informed than guard secrets. That openness is why a hobby about going fast has quietly built one of the most collaborative corners of gaming.