You’re trapped in a Saturday morning TV show that’s gone horribly wrong. It’s colorful. It’s felt-covered. And everything wants to hug you to death. Honestly, My Friendly Neighborhood speedrun tactics are some of the most satisfying things I’ve seen in the indie horror scene lately. It isn't just about moving fast. It’s about managing a bizarre inventory of stenographer-style alphabet ammo and knowing exactly which puppet to ignore.
Most people play this game like a standard survival horror. They creep. They hide. Speedrunners? They treat Gordon’s journey like a high-speed logistical puzzle.
How the My Friendly Neighborhood Speedrun Actually Works
The game is a "Resident Evil" clone at its heart, but with a weirdly wholesome (and terrifying) twist. To understand the My Friendly Neighborhood speedrun, you have to understand the "Tape" mechanic. Unlike other games where enemies just die, here they stay down only if you tape them up. Taping takes time. Time is the enemy.
💡 You might also like: Why Every Monster in Monster Hunter Still Keeps Us Hooked After Twenty Years
Basically, the top runners skip taping almost entirely.
It sounds like a nightmare. You’re backtracking through hallways filled with disgruntled puppets that you refused to neutralize earlier. But that's the beauty of it. The pathing is so precise that you’re often dodging a puppet’s lunge by a single pixel just to save three seconds of taping animation. It’s high-stakes, felt-based parkour.
The Role of RNG and "The Ricky"
You’ve got to talk about Ricky. He’s the first puppet you meet. In a serious speedrun, Ricky is the ultimate gatekeeper. His movement can be a bit unpredictable, and if he blocks a doorway in the early Basement segments, the run is effectively dead.
Most runners use the Letterist weapon. It’s basically a typewriter gun. While casual players spray and pray, speedrunners count their "letters." Each puppet has a specific health pool. 1-2-3-4—dead. Or rather, knocked out. If you fire one extra shot, you’ve wasted time. If you fire one too few, you get grabbed. The "grab" animation is a run-killer. It’s long, it’s annoying, and it resets your momentum.
Movement Tech and Sequence Breaks
Is there a "mega-skip"? Not really in the way Glitched categories work in older games. My Friendly Neighborhood speedrun optimization is mostly about "Movement Efficiency."
✨ Don't miss: Why the Helldivers 2 Superstore Rotation Still Dictates the Galactic War
- The Quick-Turn: Essential for navigating the cramped studio hallways.
- Inventory Buffering: You’ll see runners opening the menu while falling or during specific transitions. This isn't just for show. It’s to prep the next key item so there is zero downtime when they reach a door.
- Stamina Management: Gordon isn't an athlete. He gets tired. Balancing the sprint meter so you have a burst left for the "Clock Tower" section is the difference between a World Record and a "thanks for playing" result.
The game uses a grid-based inventory system. If you’ve played Resident Evil 4, you know the drill. But here, you're fitting things like "Noisemakers" and "Giant Keys." Speedrunners have the "Perfect Fit" memorized. They don't "sort" the inventory. They pick up items in a specific order so they land in the exact slots needed to minimize mouse travel. It's granular. It's obsessive. I love it.
The Sewers: The Run’s Real Challenge
Everyone hates the sewers. In a My Friendly Neighborhood speedrun, this is where the men are separated from the puppets. The lighting is terrible. The layout is a maze.
The strategy here is "Audio Cues." Since you can't always see the enemies around the corners, runners listen for the specific "woof" or "shuffling" sounds of the enemies. They turn corners at full tilt, trusting that the puppet won't be in a "bad" cycle. If it is? Well, that’s why you have a reset button.
Why the Community Loves This Game
Honestly, the "Speedrun.com" leaderboards for this game are surprisingly active for an indie title. Why? Because the developers, John and Evan Szymanski, clearly understand the genre. They built a game that rewards knowledge.
The more you know about the Neighborhood, the faster you go. There are no invisible walls stopping you from being clever. For example, the "Boss Fights." Most of them are puzzles rather than combat encounters. The Ray fight? It’s all about positioning. The Pearl fight? It’s a timing game.
Expert runners have figured out that you can trigger certain triggers early by standing on the very edge of a hitbox. It’s stuff like this that makes the My Friendly Neighborhood speedrun so engaging to watch. You're watching someone play a colorful children's show like it's a tactical military operation.
Misconceptions About the Run
One thing people get wrong: they think the "Normal" difficulty is the standard. Most competitive runs actually happen on "Top Hat" (Hard) or specialized categories. Why? Because on harder difficulties, resource management actually matters. You can't just blast everything. You have to decide: "Do I need this ammo for the finale, or do I use it to clear this hallway now?"
It turns the game into a survival-management-speed-hybrid.
Actionable Steps for New Runners
If you want to start your own My Friendly Neighborhood speedrun journey, don't just download a timer and go. You’ll get frustrated.
- Finish the game casually first. You need to know where the keys are. If you’re looking at a map, you’re already too slow.
- Learn the "Grab Dodge." Practice baiting a puppet to lunge, then backing up just enough to trigger the miss. This saves more time than shooting.
- Master the Inventory. Practice the "No-Look Sort." You should be able to move a key to the top-left slot in under half a second.
- Watch the current World Record. Look at their pathing in the "Stage" area. They take routes that seem counter-intuitive but avoid the most aggressive puppet AI cycles.
- Use the "Roller Skates" (if applicable). Some categories allow for specific unlocks, though "New Game" is the most popular. Know your category rules before you start.
The real trick is just staying calm. The music is frantic. The puppets are yelling at you about friendship and sharing. It’s designed to make you panic. A good speedrunner stays cold. Gordon might be sweating, but you shouldn't be.
Start by timing your "Basement" splits. If you can get out of the first wing in under five minutes, you’ve got the foundation of a solid run. From there, it’s just about not letting the puppets catch you in the Sewers. Good luck. You’re gonna need it when the dog puppets start chasing you.
Actionable Insights for Optimization:
- Prioritize the "Unshackle" upgrade: It’s worth the 10-second detour in longer categories to prevent movement penalties.
- Skip the "Health" items: In a perfect run, you shouldn't be taking damage. Every soda you pick up is a second wasted.
- Buffer your turns: Begin the turning motion slightly before you clear a doorway to maintain maximum velocity.