Hitless Rules
Please be aware that this list is a generic overview.
Each game in the Team Hitless roster has its own individual rules.
We kindly advise checking each game’s comprehensive ruleset before attempting your hitless runs.
A ‘hit‘ is broadly defined as a loss of health and/or a stagger caused by an enemy.
The following examples are also classified as a hit within certain official Team Hitless games. Some of them may be superseded within individual game pages, are clearly stated as such on those pages, and do not count as hits for those games.
- Damage from player-triggered traps.
- Using a shield or similar game mechanic to block an attack that would otherwise deal damage, with the exception of a perfectly executed parry or deflect.
- Dying of any kind, including via falling or as a result of self-inflicted damage, is considered a hit unless required by category restriction.
- Deaths or other hits that result from unintentional glitches or clipping into the environment via game bugs are still hits.
- Status effects, such as poison or toxic, caused by enemy attacks/auras or player-triggered traps. Buildup itself is generally not a hit, it is only if the status bar fully builds up and the auxiliary effect then applies to the player.
The following examples do not classify as a hit.
- Environmental damage from static features such as lava, water, swamps, spikes, campfires etc. unless it results in Death.
- Self-inflicted damage unless specified by the relevant game’s rule page i.e. it is not a hit to set up Fury of the Fallen in Hollow Knight or Heart of Saltpeter Blood in Blasphemous but is a hit otherwise in those games.
- Damage, staggers or deaths that are considered scripted and/or unavoidable (such as Mohg’s Nihil or Moon Presence’s 1HP attack). For scripted deaths/hits/staggers/damage please check your game specific rules page for a comprehensive list.
Runs must be considered glitchless and free from any major glitches. Major glitches that are banned and minor glitches that are permitted can be found on individual game pages
Damageless Rules
Damageless is a run category in which the player character’s current health cannot be lowered from maximum.
Generally speaking hits that follow the above definitions are allowed for no damage as long as the hit does not deal damage.
Damage from falls, environmental sources and self-inflicted damage are considered damage and not permitted.
Items, consumables and other effects which boosts or reduces players maximum hp temporarily and then goes back to initial hp (eg. Ring of Favor and Protection in DS1 or Experimental Treatment in Binding of Issac) are not considered as damage and are allowed unless otherwise stated.
Differences between what is allowed on a hitless vs damageless run can be found on individual game pages.
New Game Plus - Rules
For Non-Fresh Start NG+ Runs:
NG+ runs without fresh start for the website are allowed for runners who already have a hitless run in that game. Per each game there are specific rules, e.g. starting levels, items, etc. which you can find on the game pages. There won‘t be Worlds First for this category.
Modded Runs - Rules
Modded Runs is a category distinction that allows for the use of Third Party modifications for the following purpose: spawning a weapon/spell/item for an “X only” run.
Other modded runs will NOT be accepted by the team.
For “X Only” runs the weapon has to be spawned in at the very start of the game or at the earliest point available (depending on the game).
All other Team Hitless rules apply as normal and evidence of tool assists, cheats or other modifications will result in a rejection. Such runs are categorized as Modded and displayed separately from regular runs on the website. Submitting a Modded run is only eligible for team members with the game-relevant hitless role. The runs are not eligible for Team Entry and do not grant the relevant game’s discord role.
Visual Mods - Rules
Visual mods are permitted for specific games, provided they do not offer any unfair advantage to the player or alter core gameplay mechanics. Please refer to the specific game pages or inquire within the team discord to confirm whether your mod is allowed or the run may result in a rejected submission.
For all games, any visual mods containing NSFW (Not Safe For Work) content are strictly prohibited.
Rules for No Hit Speedruns
Hitless Speedruns are a separate category with leaderboards and additional rules to their submissions.
All No Hit Speedruns have to be glitchless.
Links to the leaderboards as well as their associated rules can be found on the game page as well as above in the Hitless Speedruns tab.
In order for your run to be considered for the leaderboard please indicate it as “Speedrun” or similar in your submission under the category restriction.
For all specific rules regarding no hit speedruns refer to the Hitless Speedrun Page or the individual No Hit Speed Pages for each Game.
Rules for Submissions
A segment is considered a single continuous video with a clear start and end to the recording itself. Within a segment gameplay can be paused and quitouts are allowed to return to the main menu as long as it follows the relevant game’s quitout rules. The game should be shown at all times barring a crash or circumstantially in other situations within reason as decided by Team Hitless staff.
For First Time Submissions:
For First Time Console Submissions: Due to console recording limitations, we can accept separate recordings if there is overlapping footage and no missing gameplay. A minimum of 1 minute of overlapping gameplay is REQUIRED for these types of submissions.
For Runs After Team Entry:
A single continuous recording is the standard for submission. However, once you have a verified run you are allowed to submit a run that was completed across multiple consecutive recordings. Offline recordings are allowed. For all parts of a multi-part run, that includes games with In Game Time (IGT), you must quit out and show IGT at the end of a segment AND load the save file while showing IGT at the start of the next segment. For games without IGT, show the save file or equivalent. This applies for all individual parts and failure to do so can result in your run being rejected. You may do a private stream on Youtube or Twitch to not have an audience. Runners are allowed to edit their multi-part runs into one continuous YouTube video for submission.
For Console Submissions: Due to console recording limitations, we can accept separate recordings if there is overlapping footage and no missing gameplay. A minimum of 1 minute of overlapping gameplay is REQUIRED for these types of submissions.
For All Runs:
- The videos or streams should ideally all be a single link. On Youtube you can create a playlist of all the videos, on Twitch you can add the streams to a collection. Please make sure you provide a non-expirable link (eg. non-highlighted VODs from Twitch will expire after a certain amount of time) or the run may not be verified.
- Gameplay must always be shown.
- Ingame sound effects must be audible all the time. Muting boss music and voices is fine. Short interruptions while tabbing out are fine as well.
- Crashes do not invalidate runs.
- The video needs to be of watchable quality.
- The video should only be of the relevant run, you should not be sending the entire VOD of irrelevant sections if only a small portion of it is the actual run.
- When starting a new game, do not cover the game version/patch number. Certain games ban specific patches as listed on the their individual page, for all other games it is fine.
- Runs with evidence of toolassists, such as macros/Cheat Engine/other external software, that are not explicitly permitted for the game in question are not allowed and will be rejected.
- The use of a turbo button, scroll wheel on a mouse, or similar tools for quality of life (ex. scrolling through dialogs) purposes is allowed. However, the use of these tools to achieve a gameplay objective (ex. rebind the attack button to a turbo button or mouse wheel) is not allowed.
- Practicing on another character or save mid-run is not allowed. Similarly, practicing in between games for marathon runs is not allowed.
- Mods are generally not allowed for any runs, unless explicitly allowed on the games rules pages or purely of visual nature (SFW Skins, Custom Effects, etc.). If you want to use a mod and are unsure if it is allowed please always ask first in the Discord Server otherwise the usage might lead to a rejection.
- There is a “Modded Runs” Category for runs with mods which would otherwise not be allowed. Submitting a Modded run is only eligible for team members with the game-relevant hitless role. Modded runs cannot be submitted for team entry, ‘world’s firsts’, or to acquire Discord roles.
For Game Roles:
Game roles in the discord are given to individuals who have a verified run in the related game and in a category that the verifier team/community have determined is sufficient to receive the role. This is generally a New Game run that is in a listed Category on the game page but is dependent on the particular game. For example, Cuphead DLC Any% does not grant the Cuphead role.
Please ask a verifier or admin if you need clarification on whether or not your run will grant the role.
Quitouts
For specific quitout rules please refer to the individual game rule pages.
When ending a segment for a multi-part/marathon run please make sure you follow the correct quitout rules or your run may be rejected.
Failure to meet any of these requirements may lead to your submission being rejected. Certain runs and circumstances may have exceptions to these rules, feel free to ask a verifier about any conflicts between your run and the rules.
Rules for each game are voted on by community members with certain votes being restricted to runners with a verified run in said game. If you would like to participate in rule discussion you may join the Discord to find that game’s discussion channel.
In addition, if you would like to provide feedback or have any questions concerning rules or the website in general, please send a direct message to @ModMail in the Team Hitless discord to reach a staff member. This can be used by all members of the discord for any matter and each inquiry receives direct attention independent of urgency.