Top 10 Memes of Summer Games Done Quick
Summer Games Done Quick 2023 ended less than a week ago, where the amazing staff and countless donors raised more than $2.2 million. Games Done Quick has always had so many different elements that have made me fall in love with the event, from the runs to the runners and staff to the incredible acts of charity. My favorite part of GDQ, however, has to be the live chat on Twitch, watching thousands of viewers talking and joking about the action, keeping up with whatever memes get popular during the week. That last point is what we’re focusing on today because since I began watching in 2015, I’ve always been blown away by how quickly a small joke can catch fire in chat and grow to become a major part of that week’s marathon.
Think of how many times you’ve seen the lamp emoji in the Twitch chat since that fateful day that it first illuminated a prize segment? Thousands, right? I think the reason this happens more at GDQ than other live events is one simple reason: the Games Done Quick staff totally gets in on the jokes and does everything they can to ride the wave. What happened after “lamp” stole the show in its debut segment? Well, they not only made it a core part of each prize showcase after that, they even went as far as to make sure we had that lovely lamp emote for the next marathon. The staff for other live events might either try to discourage in-jokes or would just ignore them as distractions, but not GDQ. Showing that they’re as fans as much as we the viewers, we see the Games Done Quick team laughing as hard as we do year after year.
So to celebrate these wonderful events and the cute professionals who make it happen, I’m here with the Top 10 Memes of Summer Games Done Quick. These are the jokes that we saw the most during runs, thanks to the live crowd and the Twitch chat; the memes that got the biggest laughs from me as I sat in front of my monitor; and the jokes that GDQ staffers gave us for a whole week. While I would have loved to make an entire list of memes and jokes that came just out of this latest Games Done Quick event, the fact is that we’re a community that loves to run jokes into the ground, then unbury those jokes for the next GDQ. So, while many of these memes are those we’ve seen at past events, I’ve tried to give new jokes higher rankings, showing some favoritism for those that came out of this latest SGDQ.
I’ve spent enough time hyping this up, so let’s save some frames (and space in this article) and jump right in with…
#10: “Honk”
To start off the list, I’m going with an old classic that’s been part of the event’s lore since Untitled Goose Game blew viewers away with its fun gameplay and single iconic voiceline. While the run itself was fun, the GDQ chat quickly became obsessed with spamming “Honk” in chat to honor the fine feathered fellow, and by the next GDQ event there was an official chat emote. Though simple at first glance, “Honk” is such a powerful word and an even more powerful custom emote because of how versatile it is. Good, bad, indifferent; it doesn’t matter what’s happening on stream, “Honk” is probably a good response. It even came in 2nd place as the file name for the Majora’s Mask Randomizer run (just barely beaten out by another meme we’ll discuss further down this ranking). “Honk” has been one of the most used emotes in the Twitch chat since its creation and is a great example of how the GDQ staff pay attention and even help enable viewers to get in on the biggest memes of each event. Coming in only at #10 just because it’s a meme that didn’t start at this SGDQ, “Honk” is still a defining joke within the community and a common sight in a chat often overflowing with vocalizing-goose emotes.
#9: Save/Kill the animals
I think you should always save the animals, end of story! If you think that saving frames is more important than saving digital creatures…..well, I guess that’s probably why I’m not a speedrunner.
At the end of Super Metroid, Samus has the chance to go off her path to save the local wildlife, trapped by those dastardly space pirates. The rest is history as the debate over the lives of all those cute lil critters at the end of Super Metroid has become one of the most popular and profitable of the marathon’s donation incentives. In fact, the final run of SGDQ 2023 was a Super Metroid Co-op run, with Save vs Kill being the very last incentive of the event (which I’m happy to announce was won by Save the Animals by only about 5%, talk about close calls).
At this point, it would be strange for there to be a Games Done Quick that didn’t involve a Save/Kill debate and I’m clearly not the only one who noticed. The Yetee, long-time supporter of the marathon and overall cool merch store, had an extra-special surprise for SGDQ fans this year: a pair of Kill the Animals/Save the Animals pins to show your allegiance and a Kill/Save coin if you’re indecisive. Similar to “Honk,” I’ve rated this one pretty low for what’s been such an important joke in the community only because of how long it’s been around.
#8: “Mooo”
Our first entry that actually came from SGDQ 2023, this joke came out of Spikevegeta’s The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask Blitz Randomizer run Wednesday night. Spike was having a great run in the beginning, finding the Goron Mask quickly and speeding along his movement for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, the randomizer giveth and taketh away because the remainder of Spike’s run saw him searching everywhere for the elusive fire arrows and a handful of final songs he needed. Thanks to that, however, we got to see Spike combing the game for every last chest until…it happened. Almost 90 minutes into the game, Link opened a chest to find Romani's Mask, an adorable cow hood that definitely wasn’t what the couch wanted to find. Spike, being his usual silly self, let out a loud “Mooo” followed by “Yo, can we get a $5 Moo train going?”
The chat had a scattering of “Moo” messages briefly, but the joke was quickly forgotten. That is, until about five minutes later when donations started flooding in with the simple comment of “Moo!” With a suggestion from the couch, Spike ran the rest of the run with the cow mask equipped, sparking a torrent of cow-based messages that competed with even the #1 entry on this list during the run. While it may not have lasted as long in the overall marathon or had quite the impact as some of the others, I can’t tell you how many times I found myself laughing at the wall of “Moo” messages in chat and donations for the remainder of the randomizer. Admitting my bias, Spikevegeta is one of my favorite figures in the speedrunning community and he’s a big reason why the Majora's Mask randomizer run was so much fun; but he showed that he’s deserving of all the praise he gets when an off-the-cuff comment spawned our #8 meme and a $5 hype train within seconds. An absolute legend.
#7: “That’s never happened before!”
The quote really says it all, right? How many hundreds of times have you watched a run and seen something totally random happen to the runner? A glitch not working properly, an enemy not behaving properly for a trick to work, maybe just a combination of patterns that seems to come out of left field? Then, of course, comes the famous line we’ve heard so many times: “That’s never happened before.” When I was new to Games Done Quick, the phrase at times felt like a defensive note from the runner, that they totally knew what they were doing and it was the game messing up, not them. Over the years it’s changed and evolved, now something said with glee by many, others with almost a sense of obligation to give the viewers what they want. It’s clear that the audience loves it, too, because people will immediately spam the chat with the iconic message. I’ve been guilty of this several times, just during this last week alone. After all, why not? It’s fun, and now it almost has a place as a sort of bingo card space that needs to be checked for it to be a real GDQ run. Plus, let’s be honest, even after thousands of attempts running a single title, we all know how the RNG gods like to play games with mortals and anything can happen once a run starts. This one may only sit at #7, but don’t be fooled into thinking that it isn’t an important one in every GDQ marathon.
#6: “Cute”
If you looked at the most typed single words during the Summer Games Done Quick marathon, I’d bet my left kidney (not the right, I like that one) that “cute” would be firmly in the top 10. “Cute” is one of those buzzwords that the Twitch chat loves to use to describe…well, everything. Runners? “Cute.” Games with pretty, shiny graphics? “Cute.” The chat? “Cute,” as always. Tech staff? Probably the “cutest” ever, based on the reactions from Twitch whenever any issues are fixed. A personal favorite of mine, this was a big indicator when I started watching GDQ that this was the sort of community I wanted to be a part of, one full of love and positivity.
The reason for the low ranking for “cute” comes from two points: it’s a very old meme at this point, but more importantly because it doesn’t feel like a joke anymore. A joke implies that it’s being done to be funny, not something being said sincerely. That’s not the case with “cute,” there’s no sense of humor or irony in the statement; it just feels like viewers like to be nice and compliment all the wonderful people taking part in creating the GDQ event. My favorite aspect about the GDQ live chat is how lovely everyone is, how friendly and inviting of a space has been created, and I think the fact that everyone calls each other “cute” repeatedly shows off the spirit of this really great community. For that reason, alongside its overwhelming popularity, “cute” has earned a place rounding out the bottom half of the list.
#5: “Egg”
Starting off the top five, we have a meme that started early in this year’s SGDQ, and it’s made even better because it started because of the live crowd. Being born thanks to a person sitting in the front row of the crowd in the first half of the week, their beautiful sunny-side up egg blanket immediately attracted the attention of the Twitch chat. Minutes later, message after message referencing “EGG!” began pouring out. Now, I want to make something super clear right now, I love when live attendees become GDQ-famous. Dance Dad is awesome and every event I see someone in Twitch chat ask for them, and every time I agree with that call for Dance Dad’s sweet moves. This, however, is different; because as soon as “egg” started being thrown up in chat, people started comparing “egg” to “ORB” in something I would call religious heresy. Yes, please get excited for a new meme, but to say that “oRb wAs aN eGg aLl aLoNg” or that “egg is the new orb” is wrong, bad, and not at all cute. My religious bias aside, “egg” never reached the heights of popularity most of these other entries did, but I think it earned its spot in the top five due solely to the fact that this one came from one of the live attendees, a trend I’m always going to be in full support of.
Seriously though, I’m an ORB man for life.
#4: $5 hype train, choo choo!
We all love speedrunning and speedrunners, but what sets Games Done Quick apart from any other Twitch stream has always been the focus on charity. Before becoming a fan, I never would have imagined that a speedrunning marathon could actually raise $1 million, let alone the $2-3 million that’s been averaged in the last five years. That’s one big reason why our #4 meme on our list is the $5 hype train, a pillar of GDQ. In 2023, we often see a $5 train get called on at some point in most of the big runs during a marathon; but what makes the $5 train stand out is how often they’re actually successful. Now granted, not every hype train can be on the level of THAT iconic Super Mario Odyssey run from 2019 that raised $150,000 in 15 minutes, but almost every call for a $5 train does show a noticeable growth to the donation counter. Plus, how can you hate on donors encouraging each other to try to give to charity? For the fun that comes with jumping on board a train, to the fun from just looking for an excuse to start one, the $5 hype train is a staple of every marathon and responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars going to great charities. I think that easily earns this a place in the top four.
#3: Mike Uyama “Very Retired”
Our bronze medal meme of SGDQ 2023, we turn to one of speedrunning’s most beloved individuals: Mike Uyama, who famously founded GDQ in his mom’s basement (shout out to Mike’s mom, a wonderful woman who earns every cheer the live crowd gives her). Mike has helped raise more than $41 million for charity since then and I think it’s easy to argue that his contributions have grown the entire speedrunning community as a result. The man has one of those faces that makes you want to hug him, an energy that makes you want to listen to him, and a history of philanthropy that just makes you want to shake his hand. Maybe that last point is the real reason why people were equal parts sad but understanding when he announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down as the Owner and Managing Director of Games Done Quick.
…Which made it interesting when we all saw Mike pop up at the very beginning of SGDQ 2023, throughout the week, and at the very end in the event’s finale as the one actually reading off the final amount raised. What really made me laugh was the way that team would always bring up his retirement during skits, especially how the banner under him read “MIKWUYAMA VERY RETIRED” as the chat was flooded with viewers wanting to shower the founder with support and love. This may not have been one of the funnier memes of the week, or the most wide-spread, but it was definitely the in-joke that gave me the biggest serotonin rush. We love you Mike, and we hope we keep seeing you guest star in segments for as long as it makes you happy!
#2: HYYYYPE!
Because, honestly, what else could be our runner-up? “Hype” may be the defining meme of every GDQ event since who knows when. All it takes is one couch commentator, one donation message, to say the blessed password before the entire live crowd and Twitch chat erupt into beautifully synchronized screams of ‘Hype!” I’m not exaggerating by calling it synchronous either. It tells you how ingrained the reaction is in the community’s brains if you listen to the live crowd, because every person in that crowd comes in on the exact same note to tell the world exactly what they’re feeling at that moment. And that feeling is hype. After all, there’s so much to get hype for in a GDQ marathon: the runs, all the amazing tricks, the constant $5 donation trains. These events are so great because it feels like everyone watching is on the same wavelength and it’s so exciting to know that everyone is as excited as I am throughout the week.
“Hype” is one of those Game Done Quick memes that will last as long as the organization itself, part of the core DNA that makes up each marathon. With that being said, by being such foundational element of the event, it is held back to #2 on our list for not being a SGDQ 2023 original. That’s why there’s one meme that managed to take the top spot at this year’s Summer Games Done Quick, a new meme that caught fire and never went away. I think we all know exactly where I’m heading with this one….
#1: “Yes Chef!”
I’m not sure if RUBIEHART knew what they were creating when they started Tuesday’s Overcooked 2 All (Hangry) Horde Levels run (a WR, for your information) by asking if their co-runners were ready, but their responses of “Yes Chef” in unison started a wave that night, only to become a mighty meme-y typhoon within seconds in the Twitch chat. The true rise of the joke began a handful of hours later. Adef was clearly paying attention and made the meme into the focus of his Ratatouille run, using the phrase “Yes Chef” as often as humanly possible throughout the run, with him and his couch decked out in aprons to look the part. Almost every donation ended with “chef,” every question answered by the couch ended with “chef,” you couldn’t keep up with how many times “chef” was said in the 22-minute run. He even had Spikevegeta come out mid-run to offer him soup, only to send it away with a stern “Can we get more heat on that, Chef?”
I made the mistake of missing it live, only to come back to see that the Twitch chat had become consumed by the phrase “Yes Chef” and I knew I needed to go back and watch the VOD. Looking back, it’s clear that this was one of those runs you had to see yourself; fun, lighthearted, and with a runner with more charisma than he had glitches. Adef may have had THE run of SGDQ 2023 just based on the impact he had on the event and its chat afterwards. After Tuesday morning, any time you went into the chat, was it even possible to see a feed that didn’t include the word ‘Chef?” Never was it more obvious than the Halo 3 run less than 12 hours after the Ratatouille showcase, where you can imagine how chat took to talking about Master Chief for the hour-long run. A day later, “Yes Chef” won the incentive vote as the filename for Spikevegeta’s Majora’s Mask randomizer run, only for the very next run, Super Mario Odyssey to add a “Yes Chef incentive” last-minute and raise another $15,000 so we could see Mario save Peach dressed in his best culinary whites. For the rest of the marathon, “Chef” may have been the single most used word in chat, showing itself as the dominant meme of the week.
Besides just being funny, obviously an important factor for any meme, there’s a great lesson to be learned from “Yes Chef.” This wasn’t a joke born during one of the showcase runs, like the Breath of the Wild Blindfold run or Sonic Adventure DX All Stories Relay, but a short 20-minute run of a silly game made to promote a movie. With nothing more than dedication to a joke and a smile on his face throughout, adef stole the show at Summer Games Done Quick 2023 and cemented his place at #1 of our Top 10 Memes list. I think adef’s impact on this year’s SGDQ was further proof that it isn’t always about the most popular titles or the most HYPE-sounding categories, but the fun that the community has together over the week.
And those were the Top 10 Memes of SGDQ 2023. While a lot of the inside jokes from Games Done Quick stick around year after year (here’s looking at you, Lamp), it was nice to see that a new meme managed to shine so bright this week. The question now is, will we see “Yes Chef” return with so much popularity for AGDQ, or maybe even a Yes Chef emote? Only time will tell.
Do you agree or disagree with my list? Think you could have made your own Top 10 in less time? Let me know in the comments below.
