Introducing Dungeon Runners: Zelda Dungeon’s Dedicated Speedrunning Platform Launches

The popularity of speedrunning in the gaming industry has increased alongside the development of video sharing platforms like YouTube and Twitch. The continued practice stands as a testament to not only a collective competitive spirit, but also a passion for pushing the boundaries of a game, especially when doing so amongst a community of like-minded individuals. Already beloved, Zelda games easily became playgrounds for the type of people Nintendo likely never expected to be playing their games.

However, speedrunning isn’t quite about disappointing Nintendo or even getting a game over with as fast as possible. Contrary to a labor of dislike towards a game or impatience for a game, speedrunning is actually a labor of love, pushing limits and experimenting with a game like a child would play with play dough.

With speedrunning now a well-established avenue to imbue novelty, strategy, and whimsy into already-played games, most information about speedrunning isn’t hard to find. Ocarina of Time, for instance has a total of 9,591 runs on speedrun.com, which is a repository of submitted times and information about glitches and routing for most if not all video games that exist. However, the amount of information for new runners depends on the size and recent activity of the community of a given game. Games like Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past overflow with community in a way that any new runner will never feel lost. Zeldaspeedruns.com similarly serves as a repository for speedrunning, yet both sites sometimes lack information on the less popular games. For instance, stepping into A Link to the Past has far more accessible support than the likes of Oracle of Ages.

Us here at Zelda Dungeon know well the power of a community with a passion for speedrunning, it being part of our marathons for over ten years. This is why we’ve worked hard to launch a portion of the site that details the basics for any level of runner, starting any Zelda game. Our goal is to foster the widespread level of community already inherent in speedrunning, all the while promoting accessibility, education, and positivity.

Available as of November 1st, the “Dungeon Runners” portion of the site will feature the following content. Some of these are already available, and some are in the works:

• Speedrunning articles covering hot news topics and events
• Monthly newsletters recapping major events and World Records
• Streams on the Zelda Dungeon Twitch account showcasing glitches and runs
• Mini marathons and and tournaments
• Interviews with some of the community’s top speedrunners
• In-depth run routing guides and walkthroughs (including explanation of glitches)
• Randomizer streams, guides, and tools
• Streaming guides and tools

If you are a speedrunner and would like to get involved in the project, go ahead and fill out this form. If chosen to be part of the Navi Network, you will become a resource for guide writing in addition to becoming more involved in our community. For other available volunteer positions, serious interested parties can reach out to discord user @drewrose5342.

What do you think? Will you be frequenting our new offshoot? How does speedrunning enrich or detract from the Zelda experience? Have you ever tried to speedrun a game? Let us know in the comments below!

Alexandria Weber

Alexandria Weber is a Senior Editor and an aspiring creative writer. Her favorite food is apple pie and she loves her cat Galadriel. Ask her for pictures!