This guide will explain some of the routes and less obvious stuff in YHTWTG speed runs. If you need some help, create a thread in either of the YHTWTG speedrun.com forums (for the original version, for the Steam version) and someone should be able to help you. You can also message a runner directly instead (using Twitch or another external website), or even join a stream chat and get help there. I plan on making videos with all this guide stuff in it at some point. ALSO TURN VSYNC OFF. It's described here: http://www.speedrun.com/yhtwtgsteam/thread/ulvqo

NOTE: This guide is just a rough draft and I'll have to fix it up at some point. Feedback and suggestion thread: http://www.speedrun.com/yhtwtg/thread/v2iud/

[section=Any% Routes] Deathless route Named so because it can be done without dying and in YOLO mode. Crimson Aura is picked up before Cerulean Aura. This is easier for new runners to do as it doesn’t have any of the annoying and sometimes difficult checkpoint skips. It does have some hard rooms though, as you’d need to go through “Never Could See Any Other Way” (also known as the Forever Room), which is a very easy room to die in.

Deathwarps route Named because it uses deathwarps and checkpoint skipping. In this, Cerulean Aura is picked up before Crimson Aura. There are two sections of checkpoint skips, one at the start and one between Crimson Aura and Springheel Boots. It is about 10-15 seconds faster than the Deathless route and skips some challenging rooms.

There are also two different routes for the last section of the game, after you get Spider Gloves.

Old Ending These strats have existed for many years. After doing Leap of Faith, you go the intended route and wall-jump upwards. I definitely recommend starting with this ending route before moving towards the next one.

Bridge Jump and Tree Jump This ending route has what most runners would consider the hardest two rooms in the Any% speedrun. The Bridge Jump requires six very well-timed jumps, while the Tree Jump takes advantage of the Triple Jump bug, which can be hard to get accurate. It takes a lot of practice to make this consistent. It can also be done in a way similar to the bridge jump, where you wall jump off the tree to get onto the branch. This method is far easier to get consistent.

I plan on making a video to compare them all at some point.

[section=Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Beginners]

Cutscene skip Spam Enter at the start of the run. Cutscenes to contribute to IGT so you'll want to skip it as soon as possible. Note that if you press an arrow key before a certain point, it won't register that you're

Double-binding While not specific to YHTWTG, double-binding can be useful and is used by some runners. The bind for down is the one most commonly used, and is already double-binded by default. Some runners struggle with spamming the down arrow key when they want to fall through platforms, so instead they use S when they want to fall through platforms while they are falling. Ultimately, though, it comes down to personal preference.

Variable jumping As in a lot of platformers, in YHTWTG you can control how long you are in the air for depending on how long you hold the spacebar (or any other jump key) down.

Platform and death trigger length In YHTWTG, it can appear that you’re only on a platform by the barest of margins sometimes. Death triggers for spikes don’t act the same way. Because of this, it is possible to land on a platform covered in spikes if you land on the very edge of the platform.

Climbing After getting the Spider Gloves, there are a few instances where you have to climb big walls. When you need to do this, it is much quicker to use the double jump to jump off the wall and back onto the wall. It is much quicker than using single jumps and not much harder, either.

[section=Difficult Rooms/Sections] (using the Deathless route) Crabs This section can also be a difficult section to start learning, but there’s nothing you can really do except start learning for yourself on how to do it. There’s two ways to do the two Crab rooms that can cause problems for the newer runners. editing note: need video of the two strats

Functional Spelæology jump (Deathless route only) This can be a bit tricky at first. This jump is possible thanks to platform length and variable jumping. When you are basically off the edge of the ledge you jump and hold down the space bar until you land. Just grind it out for a few minutes and you should have it down.

Hollow King The set-up on this “bossfight” can be a little tricky to get used to. I’d suggest watching other runners and seeing how they do this room, and figuring out for yourself when to jump onto the disintegrating platform. There are many ways of doing this, just find something that works for you, whether it’s a bullet hitting the platform or the a bullet hitting a wall that tells you it is the right time to start moving.

Forever Once you see how to do it, it’s not as difficult as it looks. On the bottom section, you can go over or under the first killing ball, it doesn’t really matter unless you get the room incredibly consistent.

Green Man The difficult part of the fast strats in this room is letting go of the jump key at the right time on the first jump. Once you get that, the room is incredibly easy.

Leap of Faith This can be done in many different ways. The fastest if you’re going for the Bridge Jump is definitely to wall-jump off the opposite side of the platform with two spikes on it. However, two other ways of doing it involve the platform with spikes on both sides. You can wall-jump on both sides of that platform, and you can also use platform length to land next to the spikes if you’re precise enough. Either way, this is a hard room to learn and it can take some time to get right.

Hardcore Prawn The last difficult part. An easy way I found is to just follow the bullet that lands on the platform above the entrance to the room, and then go to the platform above you when that Prawn shoots a bullet. Not the fastest strat but it can work pretty consistently. As a side-note, though, if you’re grinding this room, be sure to reset the room every time you try to jump. It only takes a few seconds for bullets to be everywhere and you won’t want to sit around that long when you’re doing a run.

[section=Advanced Tips, Tricks and Techniques] Gravity The first trick that can be used in any YHTWTG run is using the downward vertical acceleration (also known as gravity) to your advantage. While YHTWTG has no horizontal acceleration (you move horizontally at a constant speed - you won’t speed up), it has vertical acceleration (the longer you’re moving down, the faster you’ll move down). The idea is that if you jump instead of falling off platforms, you’ll move downward quicker since the jump has meant you’ve been falling down for longer. The first time this can be used is in “Snake, It’s A Snake”. This is why some runners jump just before they fall through that platform (if you struggle with falling through the platform, see Double-binding). A more significant use of it is in “Treasure Hunt”, where some runners jump before the big fall. It is during this fall that the most time can be saved using this. editing note: revise this entire section, it’s garbage. a video would be helpful here.

Triple Jump On small steps, it is possible to use a small bug to triple jump. This is used for the Tree Jump and can be used in Spider Gloves to get out of that room slightly quicker. It is essentially wall-jumping once and then wall-jumping again before the game registers that you aren’t on the wall anymore. It can be done by just spamming your jump button quickly. It can be difficult to get consistent. editing note: need some input from Orange or Ouija on Spider Gloves.