How Speedrunners Conquered The World's Hardest Game

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Published 2022-11-05
On December 15th, 2007, a 16-year-old developer named Snubby released The World's Hardest Game, one of the most infamous flash games ever created. The game challenged players to not just overcome it, but to truly conquer it by achieving a completion with the fewest number of deaths possible. However, for many, achieving the game's definition of perfection, zero deaths, wasn't enough. This is the story of how speedrunners truly conquered The World's Hardest Game.

Support my videos on Patreon - www.patreon.com/maximum
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World's Hardest Game Links:

Update (11/23/22) - After I put up a $500 bounty, Danicker has become the first to complete The World's Hardest Game 2 deathless!    • [Former WR] The World's Hardest Game ...  

Current World Record -    • [WR] The World's Hardest Game Speedru...  
Current TAS World Record -    • [TAS] The World's Hardest Game Speedr...  
WHG Speedrun Version - www.speedrun.com/resourceasset/dubmd
Standalone Flash Player - www.speedrun.com/resourceasset/4kbj4
WHG speedrun.com page - www.speedrun.com/whg1
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Music Credits:
Music List - pastebin.com/66wA2www
Many songs in this video are from Toontown: Corporate Clash, a fantastic recreation of Disney's Toontown: Online, which is worked on by a team of dedicated volunteers - corporateclash.net/
The Relic Song remaster was created by Zame - youtube.com/c/ZameJack
Snayk's Newgrounds Page (WHG1 Composer) - snayk.newgrounds.com/
A lot of Club Penguin music has been uploaded to YouTube in high quality by one of the game's original composers, Chris Hendricks - youtube.com/c/ChrisHendricks
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Maximum Personal Links:
Twitch - www.twitch.tv/itsmaximum
Speedrun.com Profile - www.speedrun.com/user/Maximum
Speedruns Channel - @MoreMaximum
Twitter - twitter.com/ItsMaximum_
Discord Server - discord.gg/VgdepznZQT
World Record Graphs - @SpeedrunGraphs
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Thanks to @aaronspeedruns1727, @hsblue, @fraims, @Danicker, @shiroma, @iBall1 (16 y/o Snubby's voice), and @_Pzula for making this project possible, and to @FairMaidenGames (Snubby) for creating the game!
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World Record Progression Graphs Created Using- flourish.studio/
World Record Data Obtained Through the Speedrun.com API- github.com/speedruncomorg/api
#maximum #speedrun #theworldshardestgame

All Comments (21)
  • I'm the developer of the game. It's an honor to have such a well researched and edited video documenting everything. I can attest that all the info is accurate. I am actually still doing game development, but it will be a few years before my next game is released due to having a job now and it being a really large project. My next game will be called Dungeon Dame and although it's mainly a platformer, there's an overworld which is very similar to world's hardest game, but with a bunch of differences and new features. So the WHG series will not officially be continued any further but Dungeon Dame's overworld will be very similar (and hopefully better). Thanks for watching guys.
  • @yaellevi5448
    I love the fact that it took 7 years and a level selector for someone to beat Shiroma's record by 3 seconds. Shiroma is a legend.
  • @inputnerd_
    Its actually insane how good Shiroma was back then. It legit took 7 years before someone could defeat him. If he had the level selector and 1 more year to practice back then, he would still have the world record to this day.
  • @TheSpectralFX
    I love how you broke down the jankinest of Flash hitbox detection for viewers, that was VERY informative.
  • @shiroma
    Thank you for introducing me in such a wonderful video. I don't understand English so I still only understand a small part of the video, but I am happy to know the progress of the records from the time I was playing to now. I would enjoy this video so much more if I understood English. At the time, I thought that I was the only one who would challenge the speedrun in this game and that no one would ever beat my record, but now there are many players and I am impressed when I see them beat my record.
  • Honestly, Shiroma, in my heart, is the real champion for figuring out so many cool tricks without level selection.
  • @ItsMeVolatility
    Huge respect to Shiroma and Pzula for their contributions to this speedrun’s evolution! (Based on the video at least) It seemed like Pzula was the only hope for toppling Shiroma’s record, not only in finding ways to optimize practicing (which is useful to the rest of the community), but to show others that it was indeed possible, which I think probably got more people to go for the record. He wasn’t trading records back and forth with others, he was just continually grinding his PB down until he got it. I don’t know exactly how to phrase it, but that kind of ‘trudging through it alone whilst making discoveries that will later benefit the community’ thing is very commendable And holy shit, respect to Shiroma for being a decade ahead of everyone else despite not even being able to practice individual levels. That’s fucking insane and it goes to show just how incredible of a player he is. I can only imagine what he could’ve pulled off nowadays with the tools at everyone’s disposal. I think we can all agree (as either viewers or players) that Shiroma is the chad of The World’s Hardest Game and laid the groundwork for any subsequent runners. And I feel like through Pzula’s dedication to match Shiroma, he made it seem more accessible/realistic for new runners to go for the record. I wonder how much longer it would’ve been before the record got beat if Pzula hadn’t decided slowly climb his way there alone Great video!
  • @julipana
    I've never heard of this game before (guess I've been living under a rock), but the way you told its story made me stick through the whole 1 hour video with such interest that I even caught myself smiling several times as if I followed along its way in real time, specially when hsblue got his world record. What a fabulous job you did here!
  • @Flvoq
    You know you're doing well if you're getting called "Chuck Norris" in the 2010s
  • @Maximum
    We've officially progressed from Red Ball 🔴 to Red Square 🟥 Update (11/23/22) - After I put up a $500 bounty, Danicker has become the first to complete The World's Hardest Game 2 deathless! https://youtu.be/vp0sM8Baog4
  • @vampenga9277
    This hit me right in the nostalgia. I remember discovering this game in high school and don't even think I made it to double digit levels. Seeing the game just destroyed by so many people in such a short amount of time is flabbergasting. Thank you for this wonderful run down memory lane.
  • @tsurugizaki
    Didn't expect a relatively straightforward flash game to have so many techniques. Amazing analysis and incredible skill by all the runners.
  • @Vertic03
    So, you're telling me all those insanely high skill runs which clip into enemies in level 7 are NOT cheated? My mind is blown
  • @hsblue
    This video is a work of art, The wording, the flow, pace and the big moments for everyone perfectly narrated! Nostalgic and emotional.
  • @dbzkings2626
    I remember being 14-15 in my coding class in high school and my buddy tell me to check out this game. It was crazy hard, and I never completed it. Good times
  • @AMetalPotato
    For an hour, I got emotional by the achievements of people I didn't know existed about something I'd never think I would care about. This video is a masterpiece of narration.
  • @_Pzula
    Incredible work Maximum. The amount of effort you put into this video is insane. Your presentation skills are top notch and the hour just flew by. This was a wonderful trip down memory lane, and a fantastic recount of the game's history. Thank you for shining the light on our strange desire to conquer this old flash game
  • I think that the funniest part is Aaron not being able to find the right window size.
  • @unicorntv2048
    I remember playing this game on flash. Then, I kept looking at others play them and I was amazed. Throughout the 2010s, I observed everyones speedruns. It is honestly so impressive seeing them conquer this.
  • @generfeld
    The amount of research and preparation to narrate this smoothly is incredible. And the editing is also great. This is among the smoothest, natural feeling documentary youtube videos Ive seen. Amazing job