Twitch Plays Pokemon comes to an end after over 16 days of crowdsourced gameplay

After 16 days, seven hours, 45 minutes, and 30 seconds, more than a million people have somehow managed to complete the original Pokemon Red on Twitch, inputting commands through chat messages.

Twitch Plays Pokémon was a bizarre mixture of social experiment and slapstick 8-bit comedy, all wrapped in a genuinely interesting crowdsourcing idea.

That idea being: can people co-operate to complete a game?

The answer was a resounding 'yes'. And the result was watched by over 36 million people during its more than two-week lifespan.

But it wasn't just a story of numbers; this was a tale of anarchy against democracy, of spammed start commands, and of wobbling sprites being told to do a thousand things at the same time.

It was, in short, pretty freaking amazing, and proved that an 18-year-old game can still bewitch in ridiculous ways.

This is far from the end, however, as the Twitch community has now started playing Pokémon Crystal in the same way.

The anonymous programmer behind the phenomenon posted a note on Twitch's blog to thank everyone involved, which you can read below.

All praise helix! On the 16th day the final prophecy has finally come true. The final 6 descendants, Bird Jesus, ATV, Double-A Jay, Air Jordan, King Fonz, O Master Helix, and you, were finally able to defeat the Elite Four and show Blue who the best trainer in the world is. Although many sacrifices were made, we shall never forget the fallen decedents who assisted us on this journey. Jay Leno and Abby K were the first to preach the gospel and open the path for the rest of the journey. Their efforts, along with the fallen on Bloody Sunday, will always be remembered for their contribution to Helix. And we will not forget the challenges that were overcome. The gift from the Dome, Flareon the False Prophet, the struggle between Anarchy and Democracy, the… Ledge, these are the stories we will tell our Grandchildren someday. We still bear the scars of these challenges and the grief over our fallen brothers… But we have done it. We have overcome the odds and we have done it together. Do unto others EXACTLY what they just did to you.