Sequence Breaking
Playing out of order
The speedrunning technique of completing game sections in unintended order, bypassing designed progression to reach the end faster.
Overview
Sequence breaking is the practice of completing parts of a game in an order the developers didn’t intend. By skipping areas, acquiring items early, or reaching locations before they’re “supposed” to be accessible, speedrunners drastically reduce completion times. The phrase emerged in the Metroid Prime (2002) speedrunning community to describe runners breaking the game’s intended unlock progression — though the practice dates back to the original Metroid (1986) and earlier exploration games.
Sequence breaking sits at the intersection of three communities: speedrunners (who want fastest times), Metroidvania fans (who want to discover hidden routes), and developers (who must decide whether to prevent or embrace the practice).
Fast facts
- Definition: Doing things in an unintended order to bypass progression gates.
- Term origin: Metroid Prime speedrunning community (2002+).
- Practice origin: Original Metroid (1986); arguably Adventure (1980).
- Methods: Glitches, skips, early item acquisition, geometry abuse.
- Genres most affected: Metroidvanias, 3D Zeldas, RPGs with item-gates.
- Impact: Often cuts hours from world-record completion times.
Types of sequence breaks
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Item skip | Progress without an “required” item | Fly without the high jump in Super Metroid |
| Area skip | Bypass entire designed regions | Skip Brinstar in Super Metroid, skip Forest Temple in Ocarina of Time |
| Early item | Acquire items before intended | Hookshot before adult Link in OoT |
| Boss skip | Avoid mandatory boss encounters | Various Castlevania, Zelda skips |
| Quest skip | Bypass quest prerequisites | Get end-game items at start (Skyrim quirks) |
| Story skip | Jump to credits without intended story | Wrong-warp to credits in OoT, Super Mario 64 |
| Backwards completion | Beat the game in reverse order | Some Metroidvanias |
Enabling techniques
Sequence breaks rely on specific exploits or skill techniques:
| Technique | Use |
|---|---|
| Clipping | Pass through walls (alignment glitches, position manipulation) |
| Wrong warp | Triggered teleport sends you to unintended location |
| Out of bounds (OoB) | Leave the playable area; reach map locations from outside |
| Damage boost | Use enemy knockback to leap further than normal jump allows |
| Object manipulation | Use props as platforms, weight pushers, or position-resets |
| RNG manipulation | Force specific random outcomes to enable skip |
| Skill-based jumps | Pixel-perfect jumps that the developer thought were impossible |
| Tool-assisted-only | TAS-discovered routes too tight for human execution |
Classic examples
| Game | Sequence break |
|---|---|
| Metroid (1986) | Skip Bombs, take alternate routes; speedrun-known since release era |
| Super Metroid (1994) | Multiple skip routes; “any%” in ~45 minutes vs ~3 hours intended |
| Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) | Skip dungeons; reach Temple of Time at age 10 |
| Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997) | Early access to Inverted Castle |
| Metroid Prime (2002) | Coined the term; many sequence breaks discovered |
| Super Mario 64 (1996) | Backwards Long Jump (BLJ) for stairs; many skips |
| The Witness (2016) | Extreme sequence-break runs achievable |
| Hollow Knight (2017) | Modern Metroidvania with deliberate skip community |
| Elden Ring (2022) | Stormveil Castle skip via deathcam-anim glitches |
Design implications
Sequence breaking reveals interesting things about game design:
| Aspect | Insight |
|---|---|
| Progression design | Where does the designer place gates? Doors? Items? Story flags? |
| Testing limits | What did QA not test? — sequence breaks often live in untested combinations |
| Player creativity | Unexpected solutions emerge from the player community |
| Replay value | New ways to play the same game |
| Robustness vs flexibility | Tight scripting prevents breaks but reduces emergent play |
Developer attitudes
Different developers respond differently:
| Approach | Examples |
|---|---|
| Embrace | Super Metroid developers reportedly knew about most skips and left them |
| Patch out | Metroid Prime Trilogy (2009) re-release patched many sequence breaks |
| Acknowledge in design | Metroidvanias now often encourage skips as advanced play |
| Anti-cheat / online | Multiplayer games often disable sequence-breaking exploits server-side |
| Speedrun mode | Some games include explicit speedrun categories (Hollow Knight’s Steel Soul) |
Community categories
Speedrun communities formalise sequence-breaking depth:
| Category | Sequence breaking |
|---|---|
| Any% | All breaks allowed; fastest completion to credits |
| 100% | All major collectibles; some sequence-breaks may still be allowed |
| Glitchless | No glitches; effectively intended order |
| No major skips (NMS) | Small breaks only; no major area skips or wrong warps |
| Low% | Minimum items; effectively maximum sequence breaking |
| All bosses | Defeat all bosses; can still sequence-break order |
Notable speedrunners
The community of well-known sequence-breakers includes runners like:
- DrCossack — Symphony of the Night community
- Cosmo Wright — Ocarina of Time sequence-break pioneer
- Behemoth87 — Metroid Prime community
- GrandPOOBear — Super Mario Maker / various Mario titles
- summoningsalt — speedrunning historian / documenter (YouTube)
The annual Games Done Quick charity events (since 2010) showcase sequence-breaking to mainstream audiences.
Legacy
Sequence breaking demonstrates that players will always find unintended paths. Some developers now embrace it, designing games (or post-launch patches) that reward creative exploration rather than fighting against it. The relationship between intended progression and emergent player solutions is one of game design’s most interesting feedback loops — a designer’s “you can’t go there yet” is a speedrunner’s “watch me”.