For awhile now, I've been playing an app called New York Times (NYT) Games. Not all of the games in the app, I just have the free version so I am limited in what I can play. I do the daily Wordle, I was into it before NYT bought it, and Connections, I like playing with my partner. Most of the others I casually try if I remember, feeling satisfied when completed but not upset if I get stuck. The big one for me that I try to keep up with, is Sudoku.
I've casually played Sudoku, downloading different apps, and playing it on and off throughout the years. Recently, while playing through NYT Games, I've been keeping track of my score. Specifically, easy mode. I do play medium difficulty as well, avoiding hard mode unless I'm really up for it. With easy mode Sudoku, I take screenshots of my score each day to compare with the previous day to see my progress. As of today, my score is four minutes and nine seconds to complete it (4:09).
Speed Running in general is a genre I have an interest in. I don't do it myself, but I am amazed at the way people find strategies and exploits in games to achieve the impossible. Summoning Salt on YouTube resparked this interest for me about a year ago with their videos on the topic. Watching most of their speed running videos and plenty more from others. I just saw one a few days ago talking about people who speed ran getting banned from Club Penguin before the servers closed. The wackier and more niche the speed run is, the more fascinating I find it to be. For instance, I just finished an explanation video on how several people speed ran Super Smash Bros. Melee All Trophies, a feat that takes over 12 hours to complete. Now I don't watch the actual speed runs themselves, but I enjoy watching the video explanations of them. I prefer these explanation videos because they let people like me who are not in the community understand how these runs were accomplished.
I don't know how long my Sudoku journey will last, but I enjoy this daily task I've given myself.