Fangame Marathon

The current logo for Fangame Marathon

**Fangame Marathon** (shortened to **FM**) is a yearly live stream marathon event which features speedruns, live demonstrations, races, original games, and other miscellaneous fangame related events streamed in a non stop format over several days at the official FM twitch channel. Originally featuring exclusively fangames of I Wanna Be The Guy, it has since expanded to including various other communities focused around fangames of other franchises, including but not limited to Mario, Sonic, Metroid, Megaman, VTubers, Rhythm Games, and Monkey Ball. As of writing, it has occurred yearly since 2015, with the event for 2023 being in the planning phase.

## History

Fangame Marathon started in 2015, with Tehjman1993 and Klazen108 as the main coordinators and administrators. At the time, only fangames of IWBTG were allowed in, and runs were broadcasted over a VLC broadcast to be restreamed on the twitch page. In 2017, the system was changed from a VLC server to an rtmp service. In 2018, the primary leadership of the event was handed over to Wolsk. The current administrators for the event are Cosmoing, Ghost, Klazen108, pieceofcheese87, and Wolsk.

## Format

Runs and other events featured at FM get scheduled in advance to be streamed in sequential order. During several points in the live stream, the person in charge of managing the broadcast will change. The manager of the broadcast will change the captures, balance the audio, and start the timer for each event during their dedicated time slot. After the main broadcast concludes, there will be a break given to allow people time to sleep and do other personal activities, which is then followed by a bonus stream for runs or events that were either unreliable, unfitting, or unable to happen elsewhere.

## Blocks

During the duration of the stream, several stream blocks may occur.

### Sudoku Block

The Sudoku Block aims to put a spotlight on games of dubious or otherwise confusing quality.

### TAS Block

The TAS block aims to showcase various tool assisted speedruns of games, typically IWBTG fangames. Originally it was submitted by AfterDarq, then Xwidghet, and now currently a collection of several people, of whom some reoccurring names include AdamCake and nameless.

### Variety Block

Before they got more commonly integrated, fangames of non IWBTG entities were slotted to happen during a specific block with the intention to highlight them better for those who otherwise would not have known they were happening.

### Throwback Block

The Throwback Block was a collection of previous blind adventure games from Fangame Marathon played in order, to serve as a throwback to the previous years.

## Current Events

### Main Stream Ending (Since 2015)

Since the events conception, it has become tradition to end the main section of the stream with a "mystery game" played by one or several of the managers of the event. Players to close the event include Paragusrants (2015), Stonk (2016), Paragusrants (2017), Wolsk (2018), Wolsk & CakeSauce3 (2019), Wolsk (2020), Wolsk & Tech Crew through IWPO (2021-2022).

### Draw My Guy (Since 2015)

To end the overall stream, it has been a tradition for Wolsk to play some variation of the game "Draw My Guy", during which he will look to the stream chat for suggestions on objects to draw in the game.

### Blind Adventure Race (Since 2016)

Every year since 2016, a completely original blind adventure game has been made to be shown off and raced during the marathon. Below is the list of said games, the results of the blind race based on progression, and a download link to the game if available.

* 2016 - I wanna run the Marathon - 1st: Thenewgeezer, 2nd: Stonk, 3rd: Yoyoyodude1, 4th: Wolsk
* 2017 - I wanna warp the worlds - 1st: Thenewgeezer, 2nd: Yoyoyodude1, 3rd: Stonk, 4th: Wolsk
* 2018 - I Wanna Find a Cure - 1st: Wolfiexe, 2nd: Wolsk, 3rd: bootstrap1988, 4th: SUDALV
* 2019 - I wanna stop the Simulation - 1st: Arzztt, 2nd: Wolsk, 3rd: Naloa, 4th: Wolfiexe
* 2020 - I wanna Save the Series - 1st: Wolsk, 2nd: Gaborro, 3rd: Wolfiexe, 4th: Fragnaticc
* 2021 - I Wanna Flash Back - 1st: Wolsk, 2nd: Wolfiexe, 3rd: Gaborro, 4th: Fragnaticc
* 2022 - WannaFest 22 - 1st: Fragnaticc, 2nd: Wolsk, 3rd: Wolfiexe, 4th: Gaborro

### Relay Race (Since 2017)

The Relay Race is an event where three different teams race to see who can complete a list of predetermined fangames in order the fastest. The games chosen have sometimes come from already made lists, such as the Fangame Classic.

### Piece's Extravaganza (Since 2018)

Piece's Extravaganza is an event in which pieceofcheese87 acts as the host to a fangame recreation of a popular game show. These include Fangame Millionaire (2018-2019), Fangame Fued (2020), Fangame Match Game (2021) and a return of Millionaire and Fued during the bonus stream, and Fangame Jeapordy (2022). After the first two performances of Fangame Millionaire, there was an episodic spinoff done on pieceofcheese87's own twitch channel.

### Fish Out Of Water (Since 2019)

Fish Out Of Water is an event in which players from various different fangame communities race games from communities other than theirs to see who can adapt to the situation change the fastest. On rare occasion, a custom game or hack has been made specifically for this event, however it has traditionally only comprised of non-blind content as to properly gauge if it is beginner friendly or not.

### RNG Relay Race (2019, 2022)

The RNG Relay Race, later called Gaborro's Goobawagawahoo, is an event similar to the standard relay race however the games featured are of a more random and hectic nature. As such, there is very little skill involved other than adapting to the situation you are presented with and hoping to get good luck.

### Blind Sudoku Race (Since 2019)

The Blind Sudoku Race follows a similar format to the Blind Adventure Race, however the games are of the sudoku genre instead of the adventure genre. Below is the list of raced games, the results of the blind race based on progression, and a download link to the game if available.

* 2019 - I Wanna Lose Brain Cells - 1st: infern0man1, 2nd: Cosmoing, 3rd: Casualcrap, 4th: Skulldude\_
* 2020 - Boshy Remastered - 1st: Arzztt, 2nd: Cosmoing, 3rd: Riktoi, 4th: Wolfiexe
* 2021 - I wanna keep my roulette streak - 1st: Arzztt, 2nd: Cosmoing, 3rd: CeleCele, 4th: Riktoi
* 2022 - I Wanna Eat The Tequila Worm!! - We're all winners here, but no one actually beat it, however it wasn't much of a race, just know Arzztt and Cosmo were there

### Blind I Wanna Maker Race (Since 2020)

The Blind I Wanna Maker Race is a race between two people to see who can clear more premade blind I Wanna Maker maps first.

### Fangame Hide & Seek (2022)

Fangame Hide & Seek is a game where several hiders roam around a considerably large map with the ability to disguise as certain tiles while seekers must go out and locate them. It is made by Verve, and currently unreleased.

## Former Events

### Twitch Plays Fangames (2015-2016)

Twitch Plays Fangames was a program made by Thenewgeezer in which the collective twitch chat of the Fangame Marathon stream would attempt to input controls to beat a custom fangame.

### Fangame Creation Demonstration/Showcase (2016-2017)

Fangame Creation Demonstration, later called Fangame Creation Showcase, was an event in which Patrickgh3 would give a tutorial on how to use various aspects of gamemaker such that one could follow them and create their own IWBTG fangame.

### Twitch Does Avoidance (2016-2017, 2021)

Twitch Does Avoidance was a program made by Patrickgh3 where instead of controlling the kid directly, the twitch chat would input attacks for an avoidance fight for a player to dodge over a set period of time.

### Needle Maker (2016-2019)

Needle Maker was an event in which four different makers would create needle maps live on stream using premade templates sent to them beforehand. The first two events would eventually become I Wanna Make the Marathon Needle and I Wanna Make the Marathon Needle 2, with the third event never becoming a released project and the fourth event being done in I Wanna Maker.

### David & Goliath (2016, 2018)

David & Goliath was a race between three players of varying skill levels through a game on three different difficulties relative to their skill set. Both races of this used the game I wanna be the Incremental Game.

### Blind Needle Race (2018-2021)

The Blind Needle Race follows a similar format to the Blind Adventure Race, however the games are of the needle genre instead of the adventure genre. Below is the list of raced games, the results of the blind race based on progression, and a download link to the game if available.

* 2018 - I Wanna Flip the Grid - 1st: Thenewgeezer, 2nd: Stonk, 3rd: Denferok, 4th: Yoyoyodude1
* 2019 - I Wanna Defeat the Discord Makers: FM Side - 1st: Thenadertwo, 2nd: Thenewgeezer, 3rd: HimuraChiya, 4th: Maxinator235
* 2020 - Alphazetica - 1st: Thenewgeezer, 2nd: Sunbla, 3rd: ninz, 4th: HimuraChiya
* 2021 - I Wanna Be the Immaculate Scumble - 1st: Thenewgeezer, 2nd: ninz, 3rd: Thenadertwo, 4th: bummerman222

### Avoidance Maker (2018)

Avoidance Maker was an event similar in presentation to the Needle Maker event, except with the goal being to create and avoidance game rather than a needle game. The finished game was to be used as the final round game for the Avoidance Tournament.

### Avoidance Tournament (2018-2022)

The Avoidance Tournament was a bracket based tournament in which different competitors would compete to take the least amount of hits on various modified IWBTG avoidance games, with the final round being a blind game made specifically for the tournament. Each game was modified with the intention to have a consistent RNG seed, as well as to add a hit counter for the results of the game. Below is a list of the games, as well as who competed in the final round of the event.

* 2018 - I Wanna Make The Avoidance - **Koushi** (14) vs. Ipecac (459)
* 2019 - I Wanna Try An Avoidance Mashup - **Pyun** (17) vs. Zero (18)
* 2020 - Avoidance Collab 3 - **Mastermaxify** (46) vs. Andres (59)
* 2021 - Avoidance Collab 4 - Mastermaxify (31) vs. **Razzor** (29)
* 2022 - Avoidance Collab 5 - bummerman222 (80) vs. **Mastermaxify** (72)

### Jump Master (2018-2019)

Jump Master was an event in which people competed to see how many times they could clear a specific jump in an allotted period of time. The event was originally to announce the release of the game used in the event, I Wanna Be the Jump Master.

### Tralexium Demonstration (2019, 2021)

Known as "Production Value In Games Showcase" and "Engaging Game Design Showcase", this was an event in which Tralexium gave a presentation over various different aspects of improving the quality of the games you create.

### Mad Libs (2019-2020)

Mad Libs was an event in which a game was played live on stream where the player could input items to be used as assets in the game on the fly, similar to the style of word games known as Mad Libs. Both games were made by Kurath, and the games played at the events were I Wanna Fill In The Blanks done by pieceofcheese87 and I Wanna Fill in the Blanks 2 done by Cosmoing.

### Fangame Music Quiz (2019-2020)

Fangame Music Quiz (or FMQ) was an event where twitch chat attempted to guess the fangame that used a song played during the stream, while also keeping track of who has the most correct guesses and the speed which the guesses were submitted. This event has since been made into a section of The Farewell Medley.

### Coinflip Tournament (2020)

The Coinflip Tournament was a tournament decided entirely on 50/50 chance. Before the flip, there was a challenge in place to determine who would be calling the toss. The winner was IanBoy141.

### Fangame Baggage (2021)

Fangame Baggage was an event in which people revealed secret information they had kept with them in an attempt to present themselves as not too unreasonable for a contestant to consider choosing. The event was hosted by Cosmoing, inspired by the show "Baggage".

## Popular Moments

Several moments which happened during the marathon have become recognizable either in the context of the marathon or outside of the marathon setting. Below is a list of some of these events.

* Gaborro's reaction to the Double Sunspike Sphere in the 2019 Avoidance Tournament
* Arzztt holding up a "YIKES!" sign in response to a rather unfortunate death
* Krakka announcing "Hey guys, SOMEONE'S PISSING"
* Casualcrap reacting to an unfortunate bounce during TIS's platform phase
* Bootstrap1988's "Legal Cheating"
* Gaborro getting ambushed in Hide & Seek
* Cosmoing performing a spit take with water cereal
* Anuj071, popular Boshy speedrunner, forgetting a quote from Boshy
* Wolfiexe having a poor choice of words
* Samiboule gives a completely original analogy

## Trivia

* Originally, the abbreviation was "FGM", however it was changed to "FM" due to concerns of showing results for "Female Genital Mutilation" when googled.
* The current logo is designed by Takku.
* During the early years, there was an attempt to have the marathon be a fundraiser for the Arnie's Army foundation, due to Tehjman1993's appreciation for Arnold Palmer as well as feeling a need from the Games Done Quick marathon. There was never any official integration, and as such it did not continue into later years.
* In the event that a runner is not present, depending on how on schedule the marathon is, there may be spontaneous bonus content added to fill time.

## Gallery

The current logo for Fangame Marathon.An image used at the first Fangame Marathon to separate games into categories.