Game Over Cancer adds Speedrun Marathon and Mystery Tournament

Gamers and charity have really impressed over the last few years with events like Games Done Quick getting bigger and bigger and with donation goals being smashed to reach new records. It seems like there are a lot of gamers that are happily ready to share their hard-earned cash to for good cause. Game Over Cancer in Nova Scotia is an event in Canada that has been getting together to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society for a few years, but this year they have added some extra events that are worth checking out for the competitive player.

New additions at Game Over Cancer this year include a Super Smash Bros. Wii U tournament and a speedrun marathon stream hosted by Mark Clazie (Strizer86) who we’ve talked to before on Twin Galaxies about his Mega Man runs. Other events include a free play area with a wide array of modern and retro gaming, as well as a mystery tournament where the game being played isn’t revealed until right before play. Multiple platforms and multiple genres will be in that tournament, seeking to find the most well-rounded player.

As far as the speedrun event is concerned, Clazie has been gathering folks throughout the community to showcase all sorts of runs. For those bummed out about an event in Canada or last minute, the marathon will actually all be digitally re-streamed and hosted by Clazie, so even folks from across the world can showcase their runs for a good cause. He’s organizing most of this through his Discord. Although submissions are closed, there could probably be some extras hop in for backups.

We talked to Matt and Justin MacLean who founded Game Over Cancer, as well as Mark Clazie through Facebook Messenger to get a bit more insight into the event. We first asked how long Game Over Cancer has been running and how it came about.

“This will be our 4th year,” said Matt. “I started it with Justin after we lost our grandfather to cancer. I wanted to do something to raise money, and if it helped even just one person, it would be worth it. We have both always had a passion for games, so this seemed like the logical choice.”

We also asked if either of them had a favorite memory from past events. Matt said, “Well, we assist with a lot of smaller events where we set up a 'freeplay area' with a variety of consoles and games to play. I think one of the coolest things is seeing a group of six kids (age 14-17ish) who didn't know each other prior, sit down together and play Super Smash Bros. together for hours. At the end they all exchanged numbers and facebook info. It's awesome to see games bringing strangers together and watching them become friends.”

Justin also shared, “I remember when we did a casual gaming area at a convention in Halifax, we had a small child with his parent come up to us. They wanted our opinion on what he should play for his first ever video game. It’s not the first time something like that happened, but having the opportunity to show kids the fun that can be involved and actually introducing it to them is a really cool experience.”

Clazie has been showcasing some of his own runs in the past for Game Over Cancer, but decided he wanted to open things up and make things less focused on his own work.

“The main goal of the event is to raise as much as we can for charity, while helping to expose great runners to a new audience. I met Matt through a game purchase 3 years ago and GOC was the first charity stream I did. That paved the way to Frag for Cancer, so it was a great snowball effect. Where I tried getting more runners involved at Frag 12 last year it seemed like a natural move to expand GOC beyond just me as well.”

The speedrun stream can be found on Clazie’s channel Strizer86 on Twitch. It will be held on the last weekend in April, so the 27th to the 29th. He also added that they already have more than 30 hours worth of speedruns to share, so this will have tons of opportunities to see new runners and favorites in various communities. A full schedule can be found here. 

Further information about the event can be found on the Game Over Cancer website. Frag for Cancer information can be found on their website.