Move Over Toasters: Doom Is Now Playable Inside a PDF

Doom's been ported to everything from toasters to refrigerators, seemingly pushing the boundaries of what's possible. However, a high school student has achieved the seemingly impossible: running Doom within a PDF file viewable in a browser.

While lacking sound and text (minor details, right?), it allows you to play E1M1 while procrastinating on those taxes.

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 was sufficient for a Doom port.

Using a six-color ASCII grid for visuals, ading2210 created a surprisingly playable, albeit slow (80ms per frame), version of Doom. The result is remarkably legible considering the limitations.

Though it won't replace your PS5, the achievement of running Doom inside a PDF file is impressive. TetrisPDF creator Thomas Rinsma even praised ading2210's "neater" implementation on Hacker News.

While not ideal for a first-time Doom experience, the continued porting of Doom to unusual platforms, files, and even bacteria remains endlessly entertaining.