GameBlast is the UK’s biggest annual charity gaming marathon.
Every February, hundreds of awesome gamers all over the country come together on Twitch to take part in extended gaming sessions. Their aim is to raise funds and awareness for SpecialEffect and help the charity bring the joy of gaming to even more people.
The organisation believes its everyone’s turn to play. It puts fun and inclusion back into the lives of individuals with physical disabilities by helping them get involved, using a range of modified hardware and software to find a way for them to play to the very best of their abilities. This not only brings families and friends together but has a profoundly positive impact on confidence and quality of life too.
I’ve been involved with SpecialEffect since 2013, taking part in GameBlast each year and volunteering for the charity. In my last update, I shared what it was like to help on the stand at the EGX expo in September. Having the opportunity to see the equipment they use and meet some of the people they’ve helped has really made me understand that video games can be more than simply entertainment and can do a lot of good.
Planning for GameBlast23 is well underway and we’re finally ready to reveal our format for the next event. We’ve done all sorts of things for it in the past: 24-hour and more marathons, gaming every day for 50 days, embarrassing dares on Twitch, and a Pokémon costume Pete vows never to wear again. This time around though, we’ve come up with something extra special for GameBlast’s tenth anniversary during the official weekend of 25 to 27 February 2023.
The Super Excellent SpecialEffect Great Dapper Gaming Decathlon will see us celebrate each year of GameBlast’s existence with a different game.
We’re mixing things up for the next event and inviting everyone to join us for The Super Excellent SpecialEffect Great Dapper Gaming Decathlon (thanks to Ellen for the title). Over ten days from 17 to 27 February 2023, we’ll be hosting Twitch streams every day and celebrating each year of GameBlast’s existence with a different game. Although we haven’t made any final decisions on the titles just yet, here’s an outline of the schedule so far:
| Date | Year of game release |
|---|---|
| Friday, 17 February 2023 | 2014 |
| Saturday, 18 February 2023 | 2015 |
| Sunday, 19 February 2023 | 2016 |
| Monday, 20 February 2023 | 2017 |
| Tuesday, 21 February 2023 | 2018 |
| Wednesday, 22 February 2023 | 2019 |
| Thursday, 23 February 2023 | 2020 |
| Friday, 24 February 2023 | 2021 |
| Saturday, 25 February 2023 | 2022 |
| Sunday, 26 February 2023 | 2023 |
Fancy getting involved? Whether you want to do one day or all ten, everyone is welcome to take part with us. The only requirement for The Super Excellent SpecialEffect Great Dapper Gaming Decathlon is to stream a game from the specified year on the dates of your choosing – at any time of the day and for however long you want. Our team so far consists of five lovely people split across three different Twitch channels:
| Team member | Twitch channel |
|---|---|
| Kim | LaterLevels |
| Pete | LaterLevels |
| Ellen | PragmaticPixel |
| Phil | PragmaticPixel |
| Kevin | TheLawfulGeek |
We won’t have the biggest team taking part in GameBlast but it’s one of the friendliest, and we’re going to have fun while doing something for a good cause.
If you’d like to join the team and participate with us, let us know by leaving a comment below or using the contact form. I’ll then get in touch and fill you in on the details such as where we are with the planning and how to access our shared resources. It’s extremely unlikely we’ll have the biggest team taking part in GameBlast and it might even not grow from the members above. But I can guarantee it’s going to be one of the friendliest, and we’re going to have a lot of fun while doing something positive for a good cause.
The next update about our journey towards GameBlast23 will be coming towards the end of December. In this, we’ll share the games we’re considering playing each day from 17 to 27 February 2023 so you can let us know what you think and give us your suggestions. In the meantime, head over to the SpecialEffect website to find out more about the charity’s amazing work, and follow the official Twitter account to receive regular updates about the event. It’s time to help everybody get back in the game.