The new year is coming soon, and with a new year comes a new Awesome Games Done Quick marathon. The 2016 Awesome Games Done Quick marathon will begin at noon EST on January 3rd and run until late night on January 9th.
For the uninformed, Games Done Quick is a bi-annual speed run marathon to raise money for charity. The first marathon under the banner was Classic Games Done Quick in January of 2010, which raised $10,531.64 for the humanitarian organization, CARE. Since this debut, the donations totals of increased substantially. The previous winter marathon, AGDQ 2015, raised a total of $1,576,085 for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, while the summer marathon of SGDQ 2015 raised $1,233,844.10 for Doctors Without Borders. The total donations raised have steadily increased with each AGDQ, and if this trend holds true then this year could come close to or even exceed the $2 million mark.
Two popular bid-winners are returning this year, but with a twist. Super Metroid, with its massive bid war between saving or killing the animals towards the end of the run, and A Link to the Past, will be done with a reverse boss order.
The full schedule for Awesome Games Done Quick 2016 can be found on the official site. Once it goes live, you will be able to watch, and donate, through their live stream on Twitch or the Games Done Quick home page.
Quick Take
I only started watching the GDQ streams last year, and while it can have its cringe moments, I still find myself truly excited to see how well things can go this year. I am personally looking forward to the PJ and MechaRichter run of Battleblock Theater again this year, and I find it fascinating how quickly this fledgling little charity marathon has grown in popularity. Here's hoping they hit the 2 million mark this year.
