Someone Ported The 'DOOM' Game To Run Inside A PDF File Using JavaScript And A Web Browser

15/01/2025

"Can it run Doom?" is an internet meme and inside joke that highlights the versatility (or absurdity) of getting the original DOOM to run on various unconventional and often underpowered devices.

DOOM, developed by id Software, was released in 1993 and became a groundbreaking first-person shooter. While the FPS genre can be traced back to Wolfenstein 3D in 1992, it was actually DOOM that gets most of the credits.

Fast forward to the modern days of internet and the increasingly powerful hardware, DOOM is considered a relic, but its efficient design and relatively small size made it portable across different platforms.

Over the years, tech enthusiasts began porting it to increasingly bizarre hardware as a challenge or to showcase the flexibility of DOOM's source code, which was released to the public in 1997.

As a result, people have been putting DOOM on anything from toasters to tealights.

And this time, someone managed to put DOOM into a PDF file.

Doom.

The project is the brainchild of a Github user 'ading2210' who managed to run DOOM, right inside a PDF file.

The person who is claimed to be a "high school student," uses JavaScript embedded within the PDF’s scripting capabilities, in order to create a playable version of the game that works in any Chromium-based browser using the PDFium engine.

It's worth noting that the game’s graphics are displayed using a six-color ASCII grid, and has a high response time of about 80ms per frame.

This makes it far from the fluid experience of modern gaming systems.

Despite these constraints, ading2210 succeeded in creating a functional version of the classic game.

It’s a fascinating demonstration of ingenuity and technical skill. The sheer novelty of the idea makes it remarkable.

The fact that Doom can run in a PDF file at all is a testament to how versatile the format can be.

When DOOM was first released in 1993, no one could have predicted its enduring legacy. Not only did it revolutionize the gaming industry as one of the most iconic first-person shooters, but it also became a cultural phenomenon for an entirely different reason: its portability.

Over the decades, the game has been ported to countless devices, operating systems, and platforms—some of which defy all logic.

From refrigerators to calculators, and now even PDFs, the phrase "Can it run Doom?" has become a meme in its own right.

It’s a way for developers and hobbyists to showcase their skills while paying homage to one of gaming’s most legendary titles.

Beyond the technical challenge, porting Doom to bizarre platforms is a celebration of innovation, humor, and nostalgia.

The reason why DOOM is chosen, lies in the game's simple yet groundbreaking design.

Its source code was released to the public in 1997, allowing developers and hobbyists to modify and adapt the game for different systems. This accessibility, combined with its relatively low hardware requirements, has made DOOM the ultimate sandbox for programmers looking to prove their technical chops.

From toasters to smart appliances, scientific calculators, ATMs, pregnancy tests, and even living organism.

As for the latter, it was a bizarre experiment, where researchers encoded DOOM into living gut bacteria. While this isn’t exactly "playing" the game, the experiment shows how far DOOM's influence has reached—even into the realm of biology.

So here, the question isn’t "Where can Doom run?" but rather "Where can’t it run?"

As technology continues to evolve, so too does the creativity of the DOOM modding community.

Before this, someone created a CAPTCHA where users have to play DOOM to proceed.