CookiestMonster tied for first place in the Competition Center’s May Sackboy Knit-Speedrun Challenge. The multiple record-holding speedrunner, known as Ryan to friends and family, joined us to discuss his passion for Sackboy, determination to speedrun, and life as a student with autism. We also chatted with Ryan’s biggest fan and supporter, Lee (aka Dad!).
Growing up on a LittleBigPlanet
Cookiest is a 17-year-old college student living in the UK. He enjoys playing games like Sackboy between classes and bought A Big Adventure at launch. This headstart allowed him to get ahead of the speedrun community before it could develop. However, his adventures in the Sackboy universe date back even earlier.
“We played LittleBigPlanet as a family since the beginning,” his father said. “Ryan was only five years old when it first came out.” Lee continued, “Only one of our family members managed to finish the last level!”
That family member was Ryan. The co-champ prefers titles with greater difficulties or replayability like Sackboy, which he considers a worthwhile time sink thanks to challenges such as Trial 16 (The Ripsnorter). His favorite is Square Root, the first Sackboy Knit-Speedrun Challenge.
Winning the May PS5 Knit-Speedrun Challenge
Ryan tied with fellow native Glitchy in the May Sackboy speedrun challenge. When asked how he felt about sharing the spot, Ryan said they are actually close buds. The pair often works together to find the fastest route forward.
Their collaboration reflects the collegial nature of Sackboy players.
“There are three or four people I know in the Sackboy Big Adventures community that I always speedrun with,” Ryan reflected. “The [Competition Center] gets a lot of people into it with social building. I love the community.”
He plans on playing in the July Knit-Speedrun Challenge to network with more players and claim another crown at the top of the leaderboard.
How to become a better Sackboy speedrunner?
Ryan said creativity is key to being the best Sackboy speedrunner.
“I try to go different routes, even if there’s a so-called ‘fastest route.’ I always try to make my own to see if that’s actually the fastest. Once I found one of the biggest skips that saves an entire five seconds.” In speedrunning, five seconds set apart five thousand players.
Lee shared more about his son’s abilities.
“When you watch Ryan play, you can see his hands moving around the buttons. It’s nothing I could possibly do myself. It takes me back to when we’d play Destiny and Crucible, and we’d need to be fast against other players.” He added jokingly: “I don’t know how he gets it. I’m terrible at games!”
Getting good requires practice, but Ryan said that he doesn’t consistently play: “I don’t really have a daily routine. I look to see if anyone beat my times, and see if there are any new tutorials or skips on Youtube. I do it in small increments if needed.”
Lee added that his son is relentless in his pursuit of being the best: “He will play the level thousands of times. He has great determination. When he sees a score to beat, he’ll play for hours and days.”
Time management and a different way of thinking
Time is a hurdle both in and outside of the game. As a college student studying Informational Technology, Ryan’s weekdays are spent on schoolwork, so he mostly plays on weekends. His father said he is ahead on courses and can play whenever he wants. This is especially impressive given Ryan manages his own YouTube channel.
He also navigates a life condition. “Ryan has autism, which means he has trouble making friends, and his speed and language can be different,” Lee said. Gaming made it possible for Ryan to socialize and forge friendships.
“Sometimes I get lost in words and stuff, but I do my best to meet new people, and I try my best to communicate,” Ryan said.
Overall, he doesn’t think autism affects his gaming. “My brain is different than most people, but using my hands isn’t an issue. The speech part is an issue but that doesn’t affect my gaming.”
“It’s a different way of thinking,” Ryan observes. This might be what gives him the edge over the competition.
#sackboyabigadventure 2nd place on the new PlayStation Tournaments Challenge 2 Swing Theory knit-speedrun pic.twitter.com/tBetHV93NW
— CookiestMonster (@YTCookiest) July 1, 2021
What makes a good speedrunner?
Repetition is critical for speedrunners of any skill. Most of the co-champ’s content features personal best speedruns ranging from specific challenges to entire levels. This helps him study his gameplay as well as show others his best routes. Speedruns are both cooperative and competitive. Beyond knowledge, players also need technical expertise.
“Rolling is the main component of going fast in this game. If you go to settings and go to game, there’s an option called ‘hold to roll’ where you can hold Circle instead of spamming it a bunch of times.”
A new personal best for the future
Ryan said he has no plans of ever giving up on speedruns. He plays other games like Portal Knights, Uncharted, and Minecraft, but will focus on Sackboy for the foreseeable future.
“Right now I have 1,000 followers,” Ryan said. “I plan to play the Competition Center tournaments every other month and create content around that, hoping to get 5,000 subscribers.”
His last words for new players entering the July Sackboy challenge: “Keep trying. Remember, repetition.”
You can support CookiestMonster by following his YouTube channel and Twitter. Sign up to play with him in the Competition Center’s next Sackboy Knit-Speedrun Challenge.