Speedrunning · Esports · Streaming
Gaming culture,
frame by frame
Calm, plain-English guides for newcomers and UK parents: what a speedrun actually is, how esports tournaments are run, and what happens when someone goes live.
Frames since you arrived
The three hubs
Speedrunning
A newcomer's guide to speedrunning: what runners do, how categories and timing work, charity marathons, how to start and what parents should know.
Esports
Your starting point for esports in the UK: what it is, how tournaments work, who runs it, careers beyond playing, the big games and what parents need to know.
Streaming
How live game streaming works, what clips, VODs and chat are, the age rules on Twitch, YouTube and Kick, and how to watch esports and speedruns live.
Signature demo
Try a split timer
Speedrunners carry a timer that is cut into splits, one per section of the game. Each split is compared with their personal best (PB) so they know, second by second, whether the run is worth finishing.
Press Start, then Split as you pass each invented checkpoint, or let the auto demo play. The segment names and times are made up for this explainer.
- Ahead of PB
- Behind PB
- Gold: best segment ever
| Segment | +/− | Time |
|---|
Signature demo
Build a bracket
The same eight teams can have a very different day depending on the format. Switch between single elimination, double elimination and Swiss, then play the rounds to see who survives a loss.
Teams are placeholders (Team A to Team H, seeded in that order) and every result is randomly simulated.
The library
Every guide, in reading order
What is speedrunning? A plain-English guide to finishing games fast
Speedrunning means finishing a game, or part of one, as fast as possible under shared rules. How runs, categories, leaderboards and communities work.
Speedrun categories explained: any%, 100%, glitchless and TAS vs RTA
What any%, 100%, glitchless, low% and All Bosses mean, how sub-categories work, and the difference between TAS, RTA, IGT and load-removed timing.
How speedrun timing and verification work on leaderboards
How a run is timed from video, what moderators check, how long verification takes on Speedrun.com, and the rules that stop spliced or tool-assisted runs.
Charity speedrun marathons: Games Done Quick, ESA and UK events
How charity speedrun marathons like Games Done Quick, the European Speedrunner Assembly and Glasgow's UKSG work, what they raise and how to watch.
How to start speedrunning: choosing a game, timing and your first submission
A practical first-run guide: pick a game you know, choose any% or glitchless, set up a timer and recording, practise sections, then submit to a leaderboard.
Is speedrunning OK for kids? A UK parent's guide to the hobby and its online side
What parents should know about speedrunning: game age ratings, platform minimum ages, leaderboards, Discord, streaming rules for under-16s and UK safety advice.
What is esports? A plain-English guide for newcomers
Esports explained simply: how organised video game competition works, who runs it, the levels from school clubs to arenas, and where money and betting fit.
How esports tournaments work: brackets, Swiss stages and series
Single and double elimination, round robin and the Swiss system explained with real examples from Counter-Strike Majors and League of Legends Worlds.
UK esports explained: British Esports, student leagues and schools
Who runs UK esports: the British Esports Federation, Student Champs for schools and colleges, NSE and university leagues, BTECs and the Sunderland campus.
Esports careers in the UK: the jobs beyond playing
Casters, observers, referees, coaches, producers, marketers and more: the esports jobs British Esports lists, how people get started and the routes in.
Esports for parents: age ratings, safety and the legal basics
A calm UK guide for parents: PEGI ratings of competitive games, PEGI's 2026 loot box changes, age limits, betting and skins rules, and online safety basics.
The big esports games: which titles fill the arenas, and why
A factual tour of the games behind the largest esports events: League of Legends, Counter-Strike 2, VALORANT, Dota 2, Rocket League and the wider circuit.
How game streaming works: from a console to thousands of viewers
How a game stream gets from a PC or console to viewers on Twitch, YouTube or Kick: capture, encoding, platforms, delay, chat and what streamers need.
Streaming safety for teens: platform age rules, privacy and settings in the UK
Twitch, YouTube and Kick age rules for teen streamers, YouTube's adult-present rule for under-16s, privacy habits, chat controls and UK help for families.
Clips, VODs and chat explained: the language of live streams
What VODs, clips, highlights, emotes, raids and chat moderators are, how long Twitch clips can be, and how to keep chat friendly on your own stream.
Watching esports and speedruns live: where, when and how from the UK
Where to watch esports tournaments and speedrun marathons live, converting US and European start times to UK time, catching up on VODs and avoiding spoilers.
Why we exist
Written for the person on the sofa
Plenty of gaming coverage is written by insiders for insiders. Frameperfectguide is for the parent who hears "I got a gold split!" from the next room, the newcomer who wants to watch a tournament without a dictionary open, and anyone curious about why people race through games they already know by heart.
Every guide is compiled from official rulebooks, platform terms and organisers' own published information, and lists its sources at the bottom with the date they were last checked. Read how we work or who is behind the site.