I’m always a fan of inspiration in unexpected places. There’s a wonderful organization called Games Done Quick that hosts massive speedrunning marathons to raise money for charity. Gamers register to show off their skills beating games at breakneck speeds. This gameplay is streamed live from an event center to Twitch and donations from viewers go to different charities, such as Doctors Without Borders or Prevent Cancer Foundation. They’ve even done events with a very fast turnaround time to help with disaster relief—streamers volunteer their time and Games Done Quick captures their gameplay and rebroadcasts it on the GDQ stream. It’s a fun, intense display of high quality gaming for a variety of great causes.

Kate Gray, a narrative designer, journalist for Kotaku, and streamer, joked back in January about a then non-existent event she called Awesome Games Done Slowly. “hey folks welcome to Awesome Games Done Slowly, the charity livestream where everyone just chills and plays Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing at their own pace.”

What started as a joke only took a few months to become a reality. Great Games Done Slow is an online charity fundraiser running from this Saturday, 15 September, to Friday, 21 September. The goal is mental health awareness in gaming.