Cartoon donkey mascot of Videogamedunkey holding a burning game controller and a cheeseburger next to the stylized Dunkey logo

VideoGameDunkey

2010YouTuber / internet personalityclassic

Published October 4, 2026

VideoGameDunkey is the online handle of Jason Gastrow, a Wisconsin-based YouTuber who launched his channel in 2010 with a Battletoads speedrun and built a following with absurdist League of Legends clips and sardonic game reviews1. His review style grew into one of the most recognizable voices in gaming YouTube, eventually spilling into a 2019 feud with a smaller critic that spawned viewer backlash on Twitter6.

streamer memes lets play memes youtube culture memes gaming sarcasm memes

Overview

VideoGameDunkey, often shortened to Dunkey, is Jason Gastrow, a gamer from Wisconsin whose channel mixes rapid-fire montage edits, deadpan narration and bits where he pretends to be bad at games he actually knows well3. Early uploads leaned heavily on League of Legends gameplay, though Gastrow eventually walked away from the game, citing personal burnout3.

His most-viewed uploads lean into comedic exaggeration rather than straight reviews. The channel's two biggest hits as of 2017 were "Ultimate Skyrim," a chaotic mod-stacked playthrough posted on March 12, 2015, and "Overman," an Overwatch-themed sketch posted on June 13, 2016, which pulled 14.7 million and 8.5 million views respectively3. An Urban Dictionary entry from July 2011 called him an S-tier YouTuber for his crude but witty humor2.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube
Creator
Jason Gastrow
Date
2010

Jason Gastrow launched the VideoGameDunkey YouTube channel on October 24, 20103. His first upload was a Battletoads one-life speedrun where he narrated his moves while playing the notoriously difficult NES game1. The video gathered over 800,000 views in the years that followed3.

The handle entered wider internet vocabulary on July 6, 2011, when user V O X Populi submitted a definition to Urban Dictionary describing him as an "ssstier youtuber"2. By August 28, 2012, Redditor oldblindbob had created the fan subreddit /r/videogamedunkey/3.

How It Spread

Growth was tracked publicly through Dunkey's own subscriber milestone videos. On September 4, 2011, he celebrated 20,000 subscribers by dancing on Chatroulette, and on June 16, 2014, he marked 1 million subscribers with a video of himself dancing with friends and fans over Skype, which pulled over 370,000 views in under a month3. Alongside the milestone bits, uploads like "Ultimate Skyrim" and "Overman" pushed the channel into the eight-figure view territory3.

The fiercest controversy around the channel came in 2019. On July 25, 2018, YouTuber Animal Jayson posted "Dunkey is a Bad Critic," taking aim at Dunkey's review of Octopath Traveler despite admitting on-stream that he had not played the game himself3. On July 29, 2019, Dunkey responded with "Game Critics (Part 2)," which pulled 1.6 million views and 219,000 likes in two days3.

Viewers argued on Twitter about whether a creator of Dunkey's size should direct attention at a far smaller channel. On July 30, 2019, @MercuryDjinn3 posted that Dunkey defenders were ignoring how his fan base was now piling on a tiny creator4. The next day, @Manga_Kamen wrote that naming the channel and showing clips while making the person look foolish made the pile-on predictable5.

Timeline

2010-10-24

Jason Gastrow launches the VideoGameDunkey YouTube channel with a Battletoads one-life speedrun video.

2012-08-28

Redditor oldblindbob creates the /r/videogamedunkey/ subreddit.

2014-06-16

A Skype-based dance video marks 1 million subscribers and gets over 370,000 views within a month.

2015-03-12

"Ultimate Skyrim" is uploaded, later reaching 14.7 million views by 2017.

2016-06-13

"Overman" is uploaded, later reaching 8.5 million views by 2017.

2018-07-25

Animal Jayson posts "Dunkey is a Bad Critic," attacking Dunkey's Octopath Traveler review.

Loading tweet...

Frequently Asked Questions