The Theoretical Limit: Exploring the World's Longest Speedruns

Hey speedrunners and gaming enthusiasts! Welcome back to GamingSpeedrun.com, your ultimate hub for all things speedrunning. Today, we're diving deep into a concept that pushes the boundaries of dedication and time commitment: the longest theoretical speedruns. We're not just talking about challenging runs; we're exploring those epic journeys that can take months, years, or even what feels like a lifetime.

What Defines a Theoretical Longest Speedrun?

In the world of speedrunning, a "theoretical longest speedrun" is a run with an estimated completion time that is astronomically high, often pushing the limits of human endurance, sanity, or even the game's own internal mechanics. These aren't necessarily runs that are actively pursued by many, but they represent the absolute potential for time investment within a game. Think of them as the ultimate marathons, where the goal isn't just to finish first, but to finish at all, given the immense time investment.
The beauty of theoretical speedruns lies in their sheer audacity. They challenge our perception of what's possible within a game's framework.
While some theoretical runs are purely hypothetical, others are based on actual games with calculated, albeit staggering, completion times. We aim to focus on runs where the estimated time is close to exact, rather than those with arbitrary or unquantifiable goals. For instance, a run like "all max level Digimon in Digimon World" is fascinating, but the game lacks a definitive in-game tracker for such a monumental task, making its theoretical calculation less precise.

Europa Universalis IV: The Marathon of Nations

One of the prime examples of a game that lends itself to incredibly long theoretical speedruns is **Europa Universalis IV (EU4)**. This grand strategy game, with its complex geopolitical simulation spanning centuries, offers numerous possibilities for extended challenges. A theoretical run could involve achieving an obscure in-game objective, conquering the entire world as a specific nation, or completing a unique set of national missions that requires immense time investment. The "Kale Eat Your Greens" run, for example, highlights the potential for EU4 to stretch into hundreds of hours just for a specific, albeit impressive, in-game achievement. The nature of EU4 means that a player could, in theory, continue playing indefinitely, making truly "final" speedruns incredibly hard to define without strict, pre-defined goals.

Desert Bus: The Ultimate Test of Endurance

Perhaps the most famous example of an absurdly long, real-world speedrun is **Desert Bus**. This "game" involves driving a bus from Tucson, Arizona, to Las Vegas, Nevada, in real-time. The journey takes approximately 8 hours, and the bus moves at a snail's pace. The catch? If you deviate from the route or run out of fuel, you are sent back to the beginning. While an 8-hour run is manageable, the true theoretical challenge comes from charity events like Desert Bus for Hope, where players continuously play the game for days on end, raising millions for charity. This pushes the concept of a speedrun into a realm of pure endurance and community effort, demonstrating that the longest runs aren't always about optimal play but about sustained commitment.
Desert Bus is less about speed and more about the journey, a truly unique test of perseverance.

Harvest Moon Series: Farming for Eternity

The **Harvest Moon** series, and its spiritual successor **Story of Seasons**, offers a different kind of extended gameplay. While individual goals like "getting the Seaside Cottage" or "obtaining the Cursed Watering Can" in *Friends of Mineral Town* can be achieved within a reasonable timeframe, a theoretical *complete* run could involve maxing out relationships, completing all farm upgrades, achieving every possible in-game event, and perhaps even spanning multiple generations of characters in games like *A Wonderful Life*. The sheer number of collectibles, relationship milestones, and seasonal events means that a true 100% run, aiming for every single achievable goal across all save files or generations, could theoretically take an immense amount of time, far exceeding a standard playthrough.

World of Warcraft: The All-Achievements Challenge

When we talk about MMORPGs, the potential for theoretical longest speedruns explodes. **World of Warcraft (WoW)**, with its decades of content, countless expansions, and a notoriously vast achievement system, presents an almost insurmountable challenge. A theoretical speedrun to complete *all* achievements in WoW is a task that would likely take multiple lifetimes. This includes everything from difficult raid achievements and challenging PvP accolades to obscure collection goals and world-first feats. While players can achieve impressive feats within specific expansions or categories, a truly all-encompassing achievement run is the epitome of a theoretical, near-impossible speedrun.

Digimon World: A Matter of Perspective

As mentioned in the original context, a run like "all max level Digimon in *Digimon World*" falls into a grey area of theoretical speedruns. While one can theoretically raise every single Digimon to its maximum level, the game itself doesn't have an integrated system that tracks or verifies this specific, monumental accomplishment as a single objective. This makes its calculation as a "speedrun" more subjective. However, it highlights how *unofficial* goals, even if not tracked by the game, can create incredibly long theoretical challenges within a speedrunning community.

RuneScape: Grinding Towards the Impossible

The world of **RuneScape** is practically synonymous with long-term grinds. Theoretical speedruns in this venerable MMORPG can take many forms. Consider the challenge of "Maxed Without Banking," where a player achieves the maximum level in all skills without ever depositing items into a bank. This requires meticulous planning and an astronomical amount of in-game time, often amounting to thousands of hours. Similarly, runs focused on acquiring rare items, completing all quests, or reaching specific combat levels can extend into hundreds or even thousands of hours. The highlighted "7,000 Hour Journey" exemplifies this, showcasing the sheer dedication required for such theoretical pursuits. Even more niche challenges, like the "End Game UIM" run focusing on specific high-level PvM drops after thousands of hours, demonstrate the depth of theoretical challenges.

Perfect Dark: Not Your Average Run

While games like **Perfect Dark** are known for their challenging speedruns on Perfect Agent difficulty, pushing for completion times measured in minutes or hours, the concept of "theoretical longest" can sometimes apply even to shorter games if the goal is extremely specific or difficult. For instance, completing every single challenge mode on the highest difficulty, or achieving perfect scores across all levels under incredibly restrictive conditions, could theoretically extend playtime dramatically, even if the community hasn't explicitly cataloged such a run. The examples of Challenge 30 and Institute Training highlight difficult segments, but a truly exhaustive theoretical run might involve combining all such challenges under a single, impossibly strict set of rules.

Baten Kaitos: A Lengthy RPG Endeavor

RPGs are fertile ground for long speedruns, and **Baten Kaitos** is no exception. A 100% run in this game, aiming to collect every item, see every event, and achieve all possible outcomes, can be incredibly time-consuming. The documented World Record for a 100% run clocking in at over 339 hours is a testament to this. While this is an actual completed run, it borders on the theoretical in terms of its sheer length and dedication required, pushing the limits of what most players would consider a "speedrun."

Animal Crossing: New Leaf: Debt-Free Dreams

**Animal Crossing: New Leaf** offers a unique take on long-term goals. While a speedrun for "all debts" might seem short at just over 1 hour, a theoretical run aiming for *complete* completion could involve far more. Imagine a speedrun to fill the entire museum with every bug, fish, and fossil, upgrade every building to its maximum level (like the T&T Emporium), achieve perfect scores in all fashion checks, and perhaps even collect every villager's photo. Each of these mini-goals could be a speedrun in itself, and combining them, while ensuring specific criteria are met (like completing debts quickly first), pushes towards a theoretical run of significant length.

Super Smash Bros. Melee: Trophy Hunter's Nightmare

Collecting all trophies in **Super Smash Bros. Melee** is a task that sounds straightforward but, when timed, becomes an endurance challenge. The World Record for collecting all 300+ trophies is over 61 hours. This run involves playing through various game modes repeatedly, optimizing strategies to unlock trophies as quickly as possible. While achievable by dedicated players, it represents a significant time commitment that pushes the boundaries of what many would consider a typical speedrun, bordering on theoretical due to its sheer length and repetitive nature.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the longest *actual* speedrun ever completed?

While theoretical runs can be almost infinite, some of the longest *completed* speedruns are in games like Baten Kaitos (100% in ~339 hours) or the marathon runs of Desert Bus, which can extend for days. Collecting all trophies in Super Smash Bros. Melee also takes over 61 hours.

Are theoretical speedruns officially recognized?

Theoretical speedruns are often discussed within the community and can inspire unique challenges, but they are not typically submitted to leaderboards like speedrun.com unless a specific, measurable goal is defined. They represent potential, not necessarily completed feats.

Why are MMORPGs good candidates for long theoretical speedruns?

MMORPGs like World of Warcraft and RuneScape have vast amounts of content, complex systems, and endless progression paths (like achievements, skills, or rare item collection) that can be quantified into extremely long, theoretical challenges.

Is there a limit to how long a speedrun can be?

Technically, no. For games with continuous or procedurally generated elements, or those with near-infinite progression, theoretical speedruns could be limitless. However, practical limits are imposed by human endurance, game updates, and the definable scope of the challenge.

What makes a speedrun "theoretical"?

A theoretical speedrun is one where the estimated time to complete a specific, often monumental, goal is so high that it's considered practically impossible or unfeasible for most runners. This could be due to the sheer amount of time required, the extreme difficulty, or reliance on near-impossible RNG.

In conclusion, the realm of theoretical longest speedruns is a fascinating exploration of dedication, patience, and the sheer potential embedded within video games. These runs, whether measured in days, weeks, or even lifetimes, challenge our perception of gaming limits and celebrate the incredible commitment of the speedrunning community. If you know of any other mind-boggling theoretical speedruns, or if you've ever attempted one yourself, let us know in the comments below! We love hearing about these epic journeys.