How to start speedrunning: choosing a game, timing and your first submission

Step one: pick a game you already enjoy

Speedrun.com's guide to a first speedrun is blunt: pick a game you love and would enjoy revisiting with a new goal. It warns that chasing the "perfect" speedgame, with slick movement or an active pro scene, can backfire when learning to submit runs and join a community is already enough of a challenge.

Its three questions are a good filter:

• Do I love this game?
• Do I know it fairly well?
• Do I want to see how fast I can beat it?

For families, add a fourth: is the game's PEGI age rating right for the player? Speedrunning does not change a game's content. A shorter game, one that takes under an hour to finish normally, also makes practice far less tiring.

Step two: do one full run before learning any tricks

Before you watch a single tutorial, the guide suggests playing through the game in one sitting with the intention of going fast. That shift from "playing" to "speedrunning" is the real start of the hobby, and it gives you a benchmark time to improve on.

Then look up the game on Speedrun.com using the search bar. Be specific: the guide's example is searching for a full title rather than a series name. If the game is not listed, you can request it. On the game page you will find:

• The leaderboard, split into categories.
• The rules for each category, including when timing starts and ends.
• Guides and resources, often including routes and practice files.
• Links to the game's Discord or forums, if the moderators have added them.

Watching a few of the top runs is the fastest way to learn the route, but expect them to look very different from your own first attempt.

Read the rules for your chosen category before your first serious attempt. They tell you exactly when to start and stop timing, which versions of the game are allowed, and anything banned, such as turbo controllers, which Speedrun.com disallows by default unless a game's rules permit them.

Step three: choose a category that suits you

For first runs, Speedrun.com's guide recommends any% or glitchless, because both let you focus on finishing the game with little added complexity. It also suggests choosing whatever looks fun rather than the most competitive option.

Things to consider:

• Length. A 20-minute category lets you attempt it several times in an evening.
• Difficulty of tricks. Some any% routes need precise glitches; glitchless is often gentler to learn.
• Community size. Smaller boards may have fewer runs waiting to be checked, while larger ones tend to have more guides and practice resources.

If terms like any%, 100% or low% are new, our categories explainer covers them all.

Step four: set up a timer and splits

Any stopwatch works for a first run, but most runners use dedicated timer software that records splits: times at checkpoints through the run. Comparing splits shows exactly where you gained or lost time.

LiveSplit is a widely used free timer for Windows. Its website describes features including Speedrun.com integration (browsing leaderboards and downloading splits), game-time and auto-splitting support for some games, and racing on services such as racetime.gg. A browser-based version, LiveSplit One, is also available.

Common split-timer ideas you will see:

• Personal best (PB) - your fastest complete run.
• Gold split - your fastest ever time for one segment.
• Sum of best - all your gold segments added together, a rough guide to what is possible.

Remember that the leaderboard time comes from your video, not your timer, as explained in our guide to timing and verification.

Set up your splits to match natural checkpoints in the game, such as the end of each level or boss. Many communities share ready-made split files in the game's resources section.

Step five: record your runs, even if you do not stream

Most leaderboards require video. Speedrun.com's guide lists YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo and Dailymotion as common places to host it. The site rules strongly recommend recording locally even when streaming, because streams drop, audio can be muted and stored broadcasts are not permanent.

Options depend on your platform:

• PC games - free recording software can capture the screen and game audio.
• Consoles - built-in capture features may be limited in length, so many runners use a capture card connected to a computer.
• Handhelds and phones - check the game's rules, as some boards accept a camera recording.

Keep the game audio and make sure the start and finish are clearly visible. You do not need to stream at all; plenty of runners just upload recordings. If you do choose to stream, read our streaming safety guide first.

Step six: practise in sections, then go for full runs

Once you know the route, most improvement comes from practising the hardest parts in isolation. Many runners:

• Keep save files or practice files at the start of tricky sections.
• Learn one new trick at a time and only add it to full runs once it is reliable.
• Use individual-level boards, where they exist, as low-pressure goals.
• Note which splits lose the most time against their gold splits and focus practice there.

Resetting, meaning abandoning a run early when it is going badly, is normal. Still, finishing runs matters, both for practice of late sections and because a completed run is the only kind you can submit.

Take regular breaks. Long sessions of repeating the same section can be tiring, and the NHS Every Mind Matters site has general advice on looking after sleep and wellbeing.

Step seven: submit and join the community

When you have a run you are happy with, click Submit Run on the leaderboard and fill in category, time, video link, platform and the date you played. Speedrun.com's guide notes that you will get a notification when the run is verified or rejected, with a reason if rejected.

Verification is typically one to three weeks. If nothing has happened after 21 days, politely message a moderator through their profile; they are volunteers.

Joining a game's Discord or forum is the best way to learn faster, but it is also where you meet strangers, so use the same care as any online community. Speedrun.com's site rules ban harassment and doxxing, and its message system only works for accounts at least seven days old.

Most of all, keep the advice from Speedrun.com's guide in mind: speedrunning is about enjoying going fast, not about picking the "right" game.