Missing Summer Games Done Quick? Try the European Speedrunner Assembly

Speedrunning charity marathon European Speedrunner Assembly 2016 kicked off this past Saturday and is now streaming on Twitch.

If that last sentence gave you déjà vu, it’s probably because the American equivalent, Summer Games Done Quick, just happened at the beginning of this month.

It was the popular Games Done Quick events which inspired European speedrunners to begin the ESA. This year, ESA is holding its fifth marathon in Växjö, Sweden, and is now the second largest event of its kind in the world.

Below are some highlights from this year’s ESA 2016 schedule. Note that all times are estimates and are subject to change.

Nintendo Nightmare | July 25 at 7:01 p.m. ET

This purposeful mess of a game, created by Game Jolt user Adrien Dittrick in 2013, features poorly rendered versions of some of Nintendo’s most beloved characters battling the forces of Bill Gates, the mastermind behind an alien invasion. Several Star Wars favorites like "Darth Vador" also make an appearance.

Chex Quest 3 | July 26 at 9:15 p.m. ET

The original Chex Quest was released in 1996 and is known for being the first video game ever included as a prize in a cereal box. It was a non-violent version of the notably violent first-person shooter, Doom. Twelve years later Charles Jacobi, a designer who worked on the original, released this sequel, which features all of the family-friendly, alien-zapping fun of the first game.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone | July 27 at 11:41 a.m. ET

If you enjoyed the SGDQ 2016 run of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on PC, this run will not disappoint. It features all of the unsettling low-poly graphics, lifeless eyes and shouting children of the second game in the series.

TimeSplitters 2 | July 28 at 2:17 a.m. ET

This first-person shooter made headlines recently when developer Dambuster Studios included its first two levels as an easter egg in Homefront: The Revolution. Each level of the game is set in a different time period, in which the player must recover a time crystal stolen by the titular evil alien species.

Action 52: Ooze | July 28 at 4:43 p.m. ET

Action 52 was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991 and Sega Genesis in 1993. It boasted 52 games on one cartridge and retailed for $199; a price that would have been a great deal were it not for the fact that all of the games were either broken, unplayable, or otherwise uninspired. The game in question, Ooze, features a small man wearing what looks like a slime green onesie firing sparks at little puddles of goo.

Dishonored | July 29 at 1:20 p.m. ET

This run will be made especially difficult by adding the Non-Lethal and Ghost challenges, meaning the runner will have to complete the game without being detected and without killing any enemies, except those required to finish.

Super Mario 64 | July 29 at 7:43 p.m. ET

Image: Nintendo

This year’s ESA will culminate in a relay race of the classic Mario platformer. Two groups of runners will be competing to collect all of the game’s 120 stars, handing off the controller to their teammates along the way.

All donations to ESA 2016 benefit Save the Children, an international organization which provides for the wellbeing of children through education and healthcare, as well as giving aid in times of crisis. For a limited time, all donations will be matched tenfold by USAID to support large-scale maternal and newborn care efforts in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

ESA 2016 will be streaming on Twitch through July 29.