Is it right/ok to do blind speedruns to easier games?
2 years ago
Glamorganshire, Wales

Of course! blind speed runs are extremely impressive anyhow because they show a monumental understanding of the gameplay, sequencing, audio cues and indications. Some games might be more difficult/prestigious to play blind but that shouldn't make you feel unable to try it for a certain game.

Edited by the author 2 years ago
MrMonsh and O.D.W. like this
United States

@RaggedDan Be careful with your terminology, blind speedruns (speedrunning a game without knowledge of the game and its route) are not blindfolded speedruns (as if one were blind). Either way, both types are encouraged.

Edited by the author 2 years ago
Pear, MrMonsh and 2 others like this
United States

I mean, regardless both are impressive.

MrMonsh likes this
Glamorganshire, Wales

@Quivico You're completely right, that definition didn't occur to me

Pear, MrMonsh, and Quivico like this
Michigan, USA

How would you prove not knowing anything about the game to begin with? I suppose there are certain tricks that can only be done with knowledge of the game. So I guess it would be sort of like looking at a blindfolded speedrun to see if the techniques make any sense or are truly possible by a human without sight, however knowledgeable of the game, to determine if the player was peeking around the blindfold or could see through it.

A brand-new Sonic the Hedgehog player, say, is going to hit some traps when they try to keep Sonic moving as fast as possible without knowing anything about the levels, as well as have to explore a bit to find the exits and take some time to figure out how to defeat Robotnik each time he shows up. Many games also have parts that are frustrating and slow to figure out without any information from GameFAQs or hints elsewhere in the game.

There's different shades of ignorance, too. There's "never even seen it played at all or played myself", there's "have played a few times before casually" (about like me with Sonic), there's "have watched Let's Play gameplay on YouTube but haven't played myself", and there's even "have watched speedruns of the game on YouTube while I've only played casually a few times"! (That's also me with Sonic a bit with the speedruns.)

I was as informed as a speedrunner would normally be expected to be for my Columns III speedrun, awaiting approval on a board with only a few users and times, and one inactive moderator, and there were no handicaps or additional challenges. Just a straight-up 30:17 on Hard mode.

Both "blind" as in ignorant, and blindfolded speedruns are very impressive, even for the slowest times the ignorant ones choose to stick out in a single segment. "Ignorant and blindfolded" would be pretty much impossible unless the game is so easy it's not really fun for regular speedrunners.

Quivico, O.D.W., and Merl_ like this
United States

@MadGamer1984 This is why blind runs are casual and only really performed for entertainment and training purposes; there's no true consistency between runs.

MrMonsh, RaggedDan and 2 others like this
United States

I suppose the only way there would be a truly blind run is that it's a speedrun of a game that just released or something