An Intro
Stop me if you’ve heard this before…
This past week, July 5th-11th, 2026, I was in attendance for, and a part of Summer Games Done Quick, the Summer event for the video game speedrunning charity event org known as Games Done Quick.
This was my second time attending and participating, having made my debut as a Host at Awesome Games Done Quick in Pittsburgh back in January of this year. The host acts the person who reads donation messages, plugs upcoming incentives — where by if we raise x amount of money, we’ll add on to an upcoming run, like playing a bonus round or raising the game difficulty — and talks up the charity (Doctors Without Borders), reads ad copy, and promotes upcoming runs between the runs.
After debuting in the middle of the night the first time, having roughly 2-6am slots both nights, I was given a vote of confidence, not only being able to…
- Act as a Host Buddy on Monday night, seconding a first-timer host and helping them through their first shift
- Having an earlier Tuesday into Wednesday slot, from roughly 11pm-2am, but also…
- Having a prime time slot on Friday, from roughly 5-7pm
This was, in a word, incredible. To have my own confidence behind the mic underlined by seeing my subtle suggestions improve an already great first-timer host (shout out Baidol, I am so sorry you got stuck with so many tech stalls), to getting to host a game I specifically requested in PRAGMATA (since that’s one of my favorite games of the year so far), to getting to host some capital V, capital G, Video Game-assed Video Games in Tetris and Super Mario Maker 2 on Friday.
The Runs
All four of the runs I was a host for are viewable now on YouTube, and I’ve embedded them below.
PRAGMATA
The Evil Within 2
Tetris Classic Tournament Finals
Super Mario Maker 2
Some Thank Yous
I want to thank a whole slue of people on this…
- The Host Coordinators: Jaypeg, Savage_Octagon, and happybythree. Without you, we’d all be just scrambling to figure out what to do. Your collective calm, clear joy, and guidance and instruction take the raw clay that are us hosts and turn us into great representatives both for the organization and the charity. Unsung heroes.
- The Runners and Couches for all of the above runs: OhSnap, Xenadir, DECosmic, AvuKamu, Bobbeigh, BloodThunder, Maxylobes, Toast, Chronos, meme, huff, Marble, WilfredTheBoss, CarlSagan42 and juzcook — I told you all what my goal was: to make you all look as good as possible and do what I can to make sure you have a good time. I hope I did my part. You’re all remarkably talented and to be a part of these runs with you was truly an honor and a pleasure.
- The Other Hosts: What a cool, welcoming, uplifting and supportive group you all are. We did it, gang. I’m sorry to not list you all here, but goddamn there are a lot of you!
- The Host Judges: For those who are not aware, the judging process for Games Done Quick is always a blind audition, with everyone submitting together, first timers, or many timers, with the cream rising to the crop. That you felt I was worthy of this opportunity means a lot, and if you recognized my voice from auditions, I hope I made you proud.
- My friends and family: From co-workers to members of shared online communities, to old friends I’ve known since second grade, to my in-laws and more — I felt you having my back, especially my Super Art Fight family, as I lived up to my word and wore the vest I was gifted at my last show during my first hosting shift. I felt you all there with me, and it means a lot.
- My lovely wife, Sam: Let’s be honest — you let me fly to the middle of the country and go away for a week, even if its for a great cause. You heard me out when I was unsure of myself during the audition process, and when I got accepted, you were my first cheerleader. I love you so damned much.
Some Bragging
I so rarely do this, but I’m going to take a victory lap.
First, the PRAGMATA run was featured on one of my favorite websites, Aftermath, in their article “It’s The Perfect Time To Watch SGDQ“. As they wrote…
It’s always fun to watch someone run a newer game, because they’re still in the process of discovering skips and working out an optimal route. You get to hear people excitedly (or confusedly) chatter about their learnings. Sometimes people don’t understand why what they’re doing works, but it does, and that’s OK.
Second, thanks to the very cool, in-depth GDQ Stats website, I can actually list out the number of views and dollars raised during each run I hosted…
| Run | Peak Live Views | $$$ Raised |
| PRAGMATA | 31,881 | $10,173 |
| The Evil Within 2 | 26,153 | $1,968 |
| Tetris | 40,207 | $8,132 |
| Super Mario Maker 2 | 39,604 | $103,041 |
That’s right — over those four runs I hosted, we raised a senses shattering $123,314.
I completely admit, it’s a mixture of time slots, audiences for the games, audiences for the runners themselves, and countless other x-factors, but…to be a part of that is unreal, especially…
Why We Do It
In a bit of coincidence, at the end of the Super Mario Maker 2 run, I was told to transition — with a shift in tone — to a short video from MSF (Doctors Without Borders).
I knew not the content, nor the remarkable moment we’d feature thereafter.
Introduced by MSF representative Greta Doucette, the short documentary Return to Gaza was aired. And immediately followed by comments from long-time GDQ personality SpikeVegeta.
I’ve been a fan of the event for many years before this, incredibly thankful to be a part of the community now, and this is one of the most special moments ever featured at GDQ.
I admit, it’s a rough watch, but to really understand why we do what we do, beyond the laughs, beyond the games, beyond the community, here you go.
To Wrap Up…
SGDQ 2026 by the numbers:
- # of Donations: 31,965
- Highest single donation: $42,300
- Average donation: $75.39
- Highest grossing run: The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past ($246,394)
- Final total: $2,408,701
Sources: GDQ Stats, SGDQ 2026 Tracker
And with that, a very long, and very exciting week is officially in the books.
Games Done Quick will return for their Awesome Games Done Quick event January 3-9, 2027 in Atlanta, Georgia, and Summer Games Done Quick will once again return to Minneapolis, MN on June 20-26, 2027.
Will I be a part of it? I couldn’t tell you. The audition process is filled with some incredible talent, and the selection process is blind every time. No one gets an automatic bye to the event. Would I like to be there in January? Absolutely.
But no matter how things go from here, I can take a rare moment of pride and say this: I am not a speedrunner. I am not a streamer. I was just a very big fan of this event who had nearly two decades of live event hosting experience. And I got into both main line events in the same calendar year.
Giving myself over to an event that I wasn’t producing, that I wasn’t in charge of, and just being talent is new to me — and I feel like I met the moment. I am so thankful for having had the opportunity.
In a really awful moment in the world, filled with problems, I got to be, if just for one week, a part of the solution. Come January, no matter what side of the event I’m on, I will be supporting this group and their mission. It was truly an honor.