Tips and Safety

24 hours of gaming is not as easy as it sounds, and we recommend that anyone taking part prepares properly.

–Take regular breaks from your gaming; go outside, smell a flower, make a sandwich, that sort of thing. We ask that every three hours during your marathon you tweet us or write on our facebook page to let us know what you’re playing and how your personal targets are going. Use these times to get away from the screen briefly.

-Keep as far back from the screen as possible, and look away from the screen regularly.

–Stop the game if strange or unusual feelings develop, or if you feel ill. We are helping the sick, not creating a zombie horde!

-If you suffer from epilepsy or seizures consult your doctor before taking part. There is no direct link between videogames and epilepsy but photosensitive sufferers should take precautions when thinking of playing for such long periods.

-Remember to eat and drink! Plenty of water is good, as opposed to cola, tea or alcohol because prolonged time in front of a screen can dehydrate you. If you are going to use caffeine to get you through, it’s best to stick to water for the first half of your marathon, and save the coffee for that inevitable pain barrier!

–Go to the loo when needed… seriously…

–Get together with others. Form a fundraising team or at least encourage your friends to pop round for a game at some point during your marathon. You will be glad of the moral support.

-Make sure you are careful to catch up on sleep on either end of your marathon. Starting the marathon on Saturday morning after a wild night on friday would be foolish, and you’d only regret it later…

– Make a plan. Set yourself personal goals for the 24 hour stint. For example: Those elusive Playstation trophies or XBL achievements, that game that you bought but never got round to playing, or that game you just never finished because other ones came along. Or maybe you’ve got old retro systems packed away that deserve to be dusted off and shown some love.

–Mix it up. 24 hours of wii sports will make your arms drop off. Or imagine the claw your hand will have frozen into if you try and play Guitar Hero for 24 hours? Similarly sitting in one place playing Final Fantasy will eventually be sleep inducing.

It might be a good idea to print this page for reference. You could draw up your plan on the reverse.