While 2020 might have been the strangest year in recent memory due to the coronavirus pandemic, Twitch let gamers and content creators connect with their audiences. More Twitch viewers watched streams on the platform this year than ever before. Games served as a way for streamers to connect with their fans from a distance and fueled some of the most hysterical moments in Twitch's history.
This year saw the meteoric rise of some of the best indie game titles ever, like Among Us and Fall Guys, that drew millions of viewers to the most popular personalities on Twitch. Celebrities, athletes, and politicians even began leveraging the site to reach their supporters and gain new ones, which expanded the site well past the scope of its gaming roots.
It was a monumental year for Twitch where more people than ever were socializing on the site during 2020's strange solitary circumstances. That naturally led to a plethora of unforgettably hilarious shenanigans that can only occur when different worlds collide live on the internet. Here are 10 of the most ridiculous Twitch highlights from 2020:
Twitch Highlights 2020: Ludwig Armor Fail
Variety streamer Ludwig Andres Ahgren was responsible for one of the most sidesplitting livestream fails of the year when he tried on a full set of steel armor for his viewers. Ahgren was suiting up in his medieval outfit with help from a friend when he decided to try and take a seat. He completely missed the chair behind him and came crashing down like a pile of pots and pans. The cherry on top was when he exclaimed "Squire!" as his buddy helped him regain his footing.
Twitch Highlights 2020: Mom Crashes Stream
There's always a danger of unexpected walk-ins or awkward moments when someone starts a Twitch career while living with friends and family, software engineer and streamer Jamie Pine learned that the hard way. His mom needed to grab a book off of a shelf behind Pine so she tried to sneak out of the view of his webcam by crawling. Her plan completely backfired, Pine spotted her, and he began cackling uncontrollably.
Twitch Highlights 2020: Zipper Addicted Goat
Mary Altieri runs an online store called Mary's Milk Monsters where she sells handmade goat milk soap, and she also streams to show her viewers how she raises her livestock. One of her many four-legged friends has a particularly funny obsession with zipping and unzipping Mary's jacket, which make it look like it's head bopping to a song.
Twitch Highlights 2020: Chess Grandmaster Impersonates xQc
This year saw the unexpected renaissance of chess in pop culture thanks to the release of Netflix's The Queen's Gambit and grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura. The pro-chess-player-turned-streamer became popular by coaching streamers in the 1,500 year-old-game. Nakamura mentored Felix “xQc” Lengyel for an online chess tournament at one point, and the grandmaster later impersonated Lengyel on his stream by wearing a platinum blonde wig while playing questionable chess for his standards. Grandmasters are known for being extremely professional and serious, so it's a Twitch crossover that no one saw coming.
Twitch Highlights 2020: Bird Attacks Valorant Streamer
Talking about unexpected moments, Valorant streamer Rhys "Lynchy_AU" Lynch was casually playing a few rounds on Twitch when a bird flew into his room and knocked itself straight into Lynch's head. The streamer was startled at first, but after his avian assailant knocked his headphones off and flew back outside he couldn't help but laugh hysterically.
Twitch Highlights 2020: Streamers Find A $20,000 Pokémon Card
Twitch personalities have recently been hooked on opening First Edition Pokémon card booster packs on stream. Some of these rare Pokémon cards can be worth tens of thousands of dollars in mint condition. Streamers Matthew "Mizkif" Rinaudo and Tyler "TrainwrecksTV" Niknam decided to do a pack opening together and managed to nab a Holographic Dark Charizard, which is worth over $20,000. Their reaction speaks for itself.
Twitch Highlights 2020: New Deadlifting World Record Was Set
Twitch home to millions of gaming highlights, but athlete and actor Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson - who played "The Mountain" in Game of Thrones - broke a deadlifting world record on the platform by hoisting 501 kilograms (1,104.52 pounds) on stream. The clip redefined what gamers considered to be "popping off" in celebration of an accomplishment.
Twitch Highlights 2020: Pro Footballer Scores Overtime Goal In Fall Guys
Many professional sports leagues were suspended early in 2020 due to the pandemic, which gave athletes more time to relax and game. That resulted in a Twitch clip so perfect that it's borderline unbelievable.
Manchester City striker Sergio Kun Agüero streamed a couple of rounds of Fall Guys in August where he managed to score an overtime goal that put his team into the next round of the battle-royale game show. His excitement is irresistibly contagious and is the perfect example of the type of outlandish entertainment Twitch brought to its millions of users in 2020.