There are two primary marathons - Awesome Games Done Quick in early January and Summer Games Done Quick in late June or early July - plus a number of one-off special marathons held at current organizers Games Done Quick, LLC's discretion. Throughout the experience, there is usually always a donation reader (again, working in shifts) that fills lulls with messages from donators and supporters as well as news regarding goals and incentives. Viewers are offered incentives for donations that range from deciding a runner's choices in a game to entry into raffles for video game memorabilia. Inspired by The Speed Gamers, GDQ aim to raise as much money as possible for their charity of choice by bringing in speedrunners from around the world and playing games non-stop in shifts over the course of several days.
Games Done Quick is a semiannual charity marathon, hosted by Speed Demos Archive and Speedruns Live.