Home News Move Over Toasters: Doom Is Now Playable Inside a PDF

Move Over Toasters: Doom Is Now Playable Inside a PDF

Author : Nathan Feb 26,2025

Doom's been ported to everything from toasters to refrigerators, seemingly leaving little room for truly novel ports. However, a high school student has achieved the seemingly impossible: running Doom within a PDF file viewable in a browser.

While features like text and sound are absent, the ability to play E1M1 while procrastinating on taxes is undeniably appealing.

Github user ading2210, inspired by the TetrisPDF project, leveraged Javascript within a browser's PDF reader to accomplish this feat. Browser security limitations restrict the full potential of PDF scripting, but it proved sufficient for a Doom port.

Doom in a PDF? Why not? Image credit: YouTube / vk6.

Using a six-color ASCII grid for visuals, ading2210 created a surprisingly playable, albeit slow (80ms per frame), version of Doom.

Although it won't replace your PS5 anytime soon, the accomplishment of running Doom inside a PDF file is remarkable, especially given its readability.

TetrisPDF's creator, Thomas Rinsma, acknowledged ading2210's superior "neater" implementation on Hacker News.

While not ideal for a first-time Doom experience, the continued trend of running Doom on unconventional platforms, files, and even living organisms remains endlessly entertaining.

Latest Articles More
  • Rusty Lake Launches Free Surreal Game "Mr. Rabbit's Magic Show"

    Here's my rewrite while preserving all HTML structure and only modifying text content:The Rusty Lake universe expands with a mysterious new Android offering. Enter the bizarre world of Mr Rabbit's Magic Show, where a towering top-hatted rabbit perfor

    Dec 12,2025
  • Google Streamer 4K Sees First-Ever Price Cut

    The Google Streamer 4K is seeing its first-ever discount, now available for just $79.99 at Amazon and other major retailers. As one of the top-performing Android-based 4K streaming devices available, it delivers impressive value—especially when compa

    Dec 12,2025
  • Nintendo Switch 2 features Joy-Con mouse controls

    Nintendo has confirmed that players can utilize the new Switch 2 Joy-Con mouse controls on the Home screen. Since the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal, fans have speculated about the functionality of the new Joy-Con mouse controls. Last month, Nintendo of

    Dec 12,2025
  • Nintendo Urged to Pull Switch 2 Game Pending Patch

    Limited Run Games has requested that Nintendo remove the Gex Trilogy from the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop until there is a clear timeline for a patch that resolves the game's backwards compatibility issues.In a social media statement, Limited Run explain

    Dec 12,2025
  • Gears of War: Reloaded Editions Detailed

    Gears of War is officially coming to PlayStation. That's right – the iconic series is expanding. Gears of War: Reloaded is a remastered version of the original game, offering 4K resolution, multiplayer gameplay up to 120 FPS, and cross-play functiona

    Dec 12,2025
  • Empyreal Launch Schedule

    Is Empyreal on Xbox Game Pass?Empyreal is currently not available on Xbox Game Pass. No announcement has been made regarding its addition to the platform.

    Dec 11,2025