Eleven Players Set a World Record Beating Home Alone on NES

Over the weekend, Awesome Games Done Quickly set an amazing new record for the amount of money raised by Games Done Quickly, LLC. During the festivities, however, a very different record was being set in an unofficial event in the show's break room. A group of 11 speedrunners set out to establish a world record while playing the game Home Alone on the original Nintendo, beating the game simultaneously in 19 minutes and 58 seconds. Like many other speedruns, doing so required the use of a glitch in the game, but all 11 players had to make sure they correctly implemented the glitch without pausing the game or being caught. In total, it took 23 attempts for all 11 players to start and finish the game at the exact same time!

In Home Alone, players take on the role of Kevin McCallister as he attempts to evade Harry and Marv. The game is beaten if Kevin can avoid the two burglars for 20 minutes (actually 19 minutes and 58 seconds, based on how the game's clock works). However, utilizing the aforementioned glitch will freeze the Wet Bandits in place, preventing them from getting to Kevin unless players actually make contact with them. It's a rather silly record at the end of the day, but one that will be very difficult for others to attempt to break, given the number of players involved.

Home Alone was released on NES at a time when bizarre film adaptations were far more common in the video game industry. The title is a perfect snapshot for the type of cheesy cash-in that was all too common during the era. On one hand, there's an endearing novelty to these titles from the video game industry's earlier days, but for gamers of the time, there was nothing worse than getting a mediocre adaptation of a film or TV show you liked when you really wanted Super Mario Bros. 3 for Christmas.

While Home Alone is rather forgettable in the grand scheme of things, it should be noted that the game was actually developed by one of the more famous video game developers of all time: Bethesda! The developer would go on to make the legendary Elder Scrolls franchise, which is a bit of a step-up, to be quite honest!

Did you follow Awesome Games Done Quick 2020? Have you ever tried to set a world record for a video game? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!