Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Could you play Mario games consistently for longer than these guys?

They're raising money for charity this Easter weekend.

How long could you play Mario-related games for? Four hours? 10 hours? A day?

88 hours?

That's how long a kindly group of gamers called Gaming For Others managed last year. And they did it in the name of the SpecialEffect charity, their efforts raising £1600 - roughly the price of a PlayStation 4 shh no don't say that.

This year Gaming For Others is doing it all again and would love you to donate money. "We intend to play Mario related games for as long as people keep paying us to!" Darren Keig told me.

The team selects a pre-determined list of Mario games, breaks them down into levels and then links those to donation thresholds. When those thresholds are passed, the team must meet them. The more you pay, they more they play - a bit like pumping coins in an old arcade machine.

Last year Gaming For Others started playing at 10am on Good Friday and finished the following Tuesday.

This year the team - comprising Darren Keig, Ant Moore, Johnny Wallbank, Kate England, Sarah Moore and Pete Taylor - want to you to push them even harder.

They've raised £52.20 so far for this Friday's event so there's a long way to go. The games unlocked are Donkey Kong JNR, Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2, Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 3.

A Twitch livestream video will follow their antics.