Twitch streamer Chris took five days off from his chat to play Pokemon Crystal with a randomizer mod, but his viewers beat it in less than two days. It involved letting his average of 1,000 viewers interact with the game by typing what button they wanted to use, as with any ‘Chat Plays’ stream, forcing a large number of people to collaborate.
That’s a difficult task when so many people are likely to troll and sabotage, sabotaging crucial catches or clutches against a gym leader. As a result, Chris devised a few incentives in advance. There was an “Emote-only mode” that prevented viewers from typing commands. Mods were able to control which chat was used to catch a shiny Espeon as a result of this. There was also a prize for putting the trolls in time out, giving the audience some breathing room.
Chat’s favorite Pokemon was Ursaring, a large bear with a golden ring on its stomach. By the end of the run, they had gotten them to level 71 and while beating everything and everyone – in only 35 hours and 33 minutes, no less – including the post-game Red fight, there were a few hiccups along the way.
Morty’s gym puzzle took the chat team hours to solve, proving to be one of the most challenging aspects of the race. Solving puzzles on your own can be difficult, let alone coordinating with tens of thousands of other people. Chat, on the other hand, persevered and pulled it off.
It’s a nice way to end the year, bringing so many people together to play a classic game – even if it’s unintentionally festive.