Move Over Toasters: Doom Is Now Playable Inside a PDF

Doom's been ported to everything from toasters to refrigerators, seemingly leaving little room for innovation. However, a high school student has achieved the seemingly impossible: porting Doom to a PDF file playable within 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.

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, the accomplishment of running Doom within a PDF file is remarkable, especially given its legibility. 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 living organisms remains a consistently entertaining spectacle.