Getting Over It is an experiment in frustration and embodies that feeling of overcoming a seemingly impossible task in both mechanics and visuals. Even those who are experts at this weird little game though are not immune to its pitfalls. At SGDQ 2018 we got to see just that as MONTYvsTHEWORLD came across a few problems during the run. Luckily, the speedrun of Getting Over It is so short, that they were able to run it twice.

As a speedrun, there are a lot of things that go wrong with Getting Over It. Even using a different mouse can throw off the groove. After the game made a splash and induced rage across the world with the popularity of people doing videos on it, it made sense that a speedrun had to be featured at SGDQ. There was a lot of fun injected into this short run, as Monty was able to play the game with his face modded onto the player character.

There was a ton of stress involved with this run according to Monty. It’s a hard game with a lot of weird commentary on games and philosophy. Thousands were eager to watch this source of anger put to rest, and even Monty says just seconds into the run “I am really nervous, did you guys know that?”

Monty further explained the challenges over Discord, “Due to the nature of the game and it's mechanics, it's all about fractions with respect to placement of hammer, pull angles, and timing. So having a shaky hand really makes it hard to execute these decisions and movements.”

The other thing that was on his mind was not being able to release that frustration through yelling or cursing. SGDQ sticks to a pretty PG setting, so doing so could cost him future events. “At the time all I could think of is how much I am not going to be able to play at all, then freeze, embarrass myself, and get booed off the stage.”

“That game had caused me so much heartache during the 6 months of intense preparation. I let it out though aggressive reactions and curses, so I was also nervous about my conduct on stage.”

Monty was able to curb his nerves a bit thanks to his experience with performing. “I was a DJ for many many years in front of big crowds so that helped a bit. Also it helps that the 100k watching aren't actually there.”

When it comes to hardware, he was able to make himself more comfortable. “I brought in my own mouse, but more importantly my house mousepad. I cannot play that game without adequate space.”

Not having a whole lot of time to show off the run, also means that his usual approach to getting a solid run wasn’t viable. Several resets weren’t going to be possible.

“Traditionally when I play Getting Over It, I play for hours at a time and reset over and over until I get the smooth beautiful run. At SGDQ, I was only given 5 minutes so basically I had one or two shots to make a solid run, so that was also very nerve-wracking.”

“I'm hoping next time around I can get a larger chunk of time and just do as I do like I would during my streams and keep playing over and over, resetting as much as I want in a lot of chunk of time. The intensity would still be there, because any run could be the best run anyone's ever seen at any moment.”

Even the best players can make a mistake in Getting Over It.

Despite his nerves, Monty was off to a good start, but an infamous bucket obstacle held him back for a while on the first run. After finally nailing it and soaring through the last portion, Monty and the couch were unsure what to do with the leftover time. It all happens so fast in Getting Over It.

With the energy of the crowd though asking for one more, they fired it up again. Monty described what was going through his head at that moment.

“I was just happy they wanted more to be honest. It means I wasn't bombing.” It’s extremely rare that games get a second chance to run. Unfortunately, the second run was destroyed by falling down the first major fall, which ironically perfectly captures this speedrun with that duality of success.

Financially, taking an expensive trip for just five minutes is something that cannot be done lightly, adding to the stress of the run for Monty.

“I flew out 6am from Ottawa, Canada, got there at 1130am, and flew out hours after my run at 6am from Minneapolis," Monty explained. "Spent a lot of money just for 5 minutes. I was really worried it would be all for nothing and I would bomb and embarrass myself an appear on cringe compilations across the internet, but everyone received it so well and I got many compliments. I'm just so happy that it turned out well, it could have been much much worse. Everyone's been so kind.”

“I had to do it for the experience. To see it. I now have this under my belt forever and it was a wonderful experience. Everyone was so great there - a great event and a great community.”

Monty hopes to be at future Games Done Quick events, either with more Getting Over It or another game.

Find MONTYvsTHEWORLD streaming several games, not just speedrun attempts, on Twitch. His Discord is also a great place to keep in touch and follow his latest escapades.