Extra Life 2016: Tips from the veterans

So this year I finally have the space and set up to participate in Extra Life as a solo streamer (obligatory page plug here). That being said I was curious to hear some advice from the community on how to make it through the full 24 hours. I have a few specific questions I wanted to ask but any advice is appreciated.

Is it best to plan it out, like x hours on this game and then move on to this game for y hours etc. or just wing it and play what feels "right"?

Is this a good time to marathon a backlog game or will I get burnt out after 10 hours?

What is the best solution for breaks (food or otherwise)?

Thanks and looking forward to joining the explosive runs crew this year.

I've done it for three years now and the best time I had was with a group of people. If I had to do it alone, I would make a list of games, but not follow a schedule. Play a game until you're bored, then move on.

The hardest part, depending on the time you start, is the last few hours around 3-4 am. I would save a game that's really action-packed to keep your adrenaline up or some form of multiplayer. Good luck!

@drflapjack: I have started to build a list and I think it may en up being like a "First 60 minutes" theme. I have so many games in my backlog I may just start a bunch of them.

@meteora3255: Whenever I've decided to play through a game for Extra Life I've had the most fun when it was a shorter game. When I tried playing through MML2 for another community event it was a bit long and I had to give up on it 6 hours into the stream. For breaks I always just put up an I'll be back in 5-10 minutes message and put on some royalty free music. By the way, I went ahead and added you to the GB community list I've been putting together. http://www.giantbomb.com/profile/riostarwind/blog/tune-into-extra-life-2016-a-collection-of-gb-commu/113835/

Last year was my first time Extra Life-ing. Basically ran whatever game I felt like playing at the moment, but I had definitely identified a handful of games ahead of time.

I don't know how other solo streamers feel about this phenomenon, but at/around the 12 to 15-hour mark I hit a wall that made it hard to play any game I wasn't already familiar with. That many consistent hours of nonstop stimulation just runs your mind into the ground. Near the end of hour 20 I started a fresh save in a game I'd never played before, and the effort it required to learn or retain or be invested in new mechanics was simply too much for me to handle. By that point, if you aren't playing something by muscle memory, you might be in trouble.

Be sure to eat well the day before (as in, eat healthily -- don't just eat a lot of food). On the day of, start with plenty of juice and try to avoid coffee/energy drinks/soda until later in the stream. Have snacks at the ready, but don't overload on high-grease foods like pizza or burgers or any fast food in general.