: While casual players follow the developer's intended path, speedrunners view a game’s code as a puzzle to be solved. This often involves utilizing glitches that allow for "skips," turning 30-hour epics like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time into 10-minute sprints.
At its simplest, speedrunning is the attempt to complete a video game as quickly as possible. However, veterans argue it is better described as the , where players break the boundaries of a game to surpass what was previously considered possible. : While casual players follow the developer's intended
: Some researchers describe speedrunners as "virtual naturalists" who conduct empirical and materialistic studies of game worlds to find every exploit hidden in the digital landscape. However, veterans argue it is better described as
: The community uses strict leaderboards to distinguish between styles of runs, such as Any% (reaching the end by any means) and Glitchless 100% (finishing everything without exploits). A Global Community Born in the Shadows Culture hash: What is speedrunning - Axios A Global Community Born in the Shadows Culture