Speedrun Categories
| Category | Rules | Record Target |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel Any% | Clear floor 50 by any means | ~18:30 WR |
| Hotel 100% | Clear floor 50 + collect every item | ~28:00 WR |
| Blacksite Any% | Clear Blacksite floor 50 | ~35:00 WR |
| Endless Sprint | Reach floor 30 in Endless mode | ~12:00 WR |
| No Items | Clear Hotel with zero purchased items | ~25:00 WR |
Speedrun Item Loadout
In a speedrun, time is everything. Every item choice is measured in seconds saved vs seconds spent.
| Item | Time Cost (to buy) | Time Saved | Net Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Flashlight + 2 Batteries | 0s (pre-purchased) | Avoids 15+s of darkness navigation | +15s |
| Sprint Potion ×2 | 0s (pre-purchased) | ~25s each during Seek + long corridors | +50s |
| Code Breacher | 0s (pre-purchased) | ~45s (locked door search skip) | +45s |
| Gummy Flashlight | 0s | Negative — crank animation wastes ~1.5s per recharge | -30s |
| Medkit | 0s | 0s (shouldn’t need it) | 0s — dead weight |
| Any lockpick/lantern/etc | 0s | Negative — inventory clutter | — |
Optimal speedrun loadout: Standard Flashlight, 2 Batteries, 2 Sprint Potions, 1 Code Breacher.
Floor-by-Floor Time Benchmarks
| Floor Range | Target Time | Key Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 1-10 | Under 3 min total | Sprint through, don’t check containers, identify nearest exits instantly |
| 11-20 | +3 min (6 min total) | Conserve Sprint Potions, recognize dead-end room layouts |
| 21-30 | +4 min (10 min total) | Seek chase — use Sprint Potion during chase, save 15s |
| 31-40 | +5 min (15 min total) | Locked door — use Code Breacher, skip search phase |
| 41-49 | +6 min (21 min total) | Toughest rooms, use second Sprint Potion, don’t heal |
| 50 (Library) | +5-8 min (26-29 min total) | Figure encounter — walk efficiently, don’t waste time crouching unnecessarily |
Key Speed Techs
Instant Room Exit Recognition
The #1 time save. When you enter a new room, scan for the exit door in under 1 second. Exit doors have a faint glow to their frame. Train yourself to spot this instantly.
Dead-End Skip
Dead-end rooms have no exit door and spawn only loot containers. Recognizing one instantly saves 5-10 seconds of useless exploration. Dead-end rooms are always smaller than normal rooms and have a single entrance.
Seek Chase Optimization
Sprint Potion during Seek saves approximately 40% of the chase duration. Pop it the moment the chase begins. Guiding Light’s blue glow shows the correct path — never hesitate at a junction. Hesitation costs more time than taking the wrong path once.
Figure Room Efficiency
The Figure encounter on floor 50 is the biggest time variance in speedruns — anywhere from 3 to 15 minutes. Speedrun strats:
- Use Sprint Potion to move between shelves faster (walking speed only matters when Figure is close)
- Don’t crouch when Figure is on the opposite side — walking is silent enough at 30+ studs
- Collect 2 books per trip instead of 1 (doubles efficiency, slightly riskier)
Locker Skip for Rush
If you’re near a side room (not just a closet), enter it and close the door — this is faster than entering and exiting a locker by ~1 second. Side rooms with doors block Rush just as effectively as lockers.
Time Loss Traps
| Trap | Time Lost | Avoid By |
|---|---|---|
| Checking every container | 3-5s per container × 50+ rooms | Only check containers in your direct path |
| Backtracking for a missed item | 10-30s per backtrack | The item isn’t worth it — keep moving |
| Healing at full HP | 3-5s per unnecessary heal | Only heal below 40 HP in a safe room |
| Waiting for Ambush to finish outside a closet | Death + run reset | Stay in closet, count passes, only exit when safe |
| Freezing when hearing Rush | 2-3s | Pre-identify nearest closet in every room on entry |