Summer Games Done Quick 2023 will speed-run Zelda for charity

Summer Games Done Quick (SGDQ) released the full schedule for its return to in-person activities for 2023. The charity speed-running event takes place in Minneapolis from May 28th to June 4th. This year, the organizers added a slew of Zelda runs in honor of the upcoming Tears of the Kingdom, which gamers will spend countless hours exploring beginning next month. Of course, the event will stream live on Twitch for those who can’t make it to Minnesota.

The full schedule starts with a pre-show followed by a Sonic Frontiers run on May 28th and wraps up with a Super Metroid run and an unknown finale on June 3rd. The last day also includes Elden Ring and a blindfolded run of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Sightless speed runs have been a popular GDQ mainstay, with previous years including memorable blindfolded play-throughs of Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! and Super Mario 64.

Other Zelda games in the SGDQ 2023 lineup include The Minish Cap (Switch) on May 28th, A Link Between Worlds (3DS) on May 29th, Majora’s Mask (Nintendo 64) on May 31st, Twilight Princess (GameCube) on June 1st and Four Swords (Game Boy Advance) on June 2nd. The Zelda franchise should be frontmost on the minds of many gamers during this year’s event as the latest installment, Tears of the Kingdom, launches on May 12th.

If big-name series aren’t your thing, the 2023 event will include plenty of cult-classic and oddball runs. For example, you can tune into Hobo Cat Adventures on June 1st, Choo-Choo Charles on May 31st and the NES adventure Maniac Mansion on May 30th. (And you won’t want to miss Give Me Toilet Paper! on June 1st.) You can read the full schedule for many more runs, including Hitman 3, GTA: San Andreas and Super Mario Odyssey.

It should be lighthearted fun for a terrific cause, as 100 percent of all donations go to Doctors Without Borders. The event typically raises millions of dollars for the charity, which provides medical and humanitarian care to people in over 70 countries affected by crises like war, natural disasters and epidemics. In its return as an in-person event, attendees must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination and wear a KN95 / N95 / KF94 mask. You can register to attend on the organization’s website.