One of the most popular and legendary first-person shooters, Doom stands as an important title in the gaming landscape. This game — along with Wolfenstein 3D — paved the way for an entirely new genre of games that have dominated both PC and console gaming ever since. The legacy of Doom is so immense that the original game is still a massive point of discussion to this day.
The reboot of the series might be taking the franchise in a new direction, but the original Doom is still quite relevant in its own right. In fact, it’s become an inside joke in the gaming community to try and make Doom run on the most improbable platforms imaginable. Here are ten of the most notable — and strangest — platforms that can run Doom.
Updated July 6, 2022, by Ritwik Mitra: The original Doom is widely considered to be one of the most important and influential video game titles to this day. The days of FPS games might’ve slowly faded away a little over time, but the success of Doom’s reboot shows that such gameplay still holds a soft spot in the hearts of fans all over. A big part of what makes Doom such a talking point is that players try to run this title on the most creative platforms possible. The best and strangest of the bunch are mentioned below.
15 Minecraft
The idea of playing Doom in another video game has somehow become a pretty popular idea. This can be seen in the popular Minecraft as well, where a player created a mod that allowed them to simulate an old PC in the game.
Its functionality is genuinely impressive, with the accuracy of this mod being pretty authentic indeed. This mod can even let players try out Doom in Minecraft, which is simply hilarious.
14 Treadmill
Fitness is something that everyone should keep a track of to lead a healthy and long life. However, that’s not to say that running on a treadmill has to be completely devoid of any gaming potential.
This Reddit user took the bold initiative of making Doom run on a standard run-of-the-mill treadmill. The fact that this experiment was a success proves that Doom really will run on anything.
13 Ticket Validator
The mere idea of a Ticket Validator running Doom is a hilarious and off-the-beat notion. So, it was only a matter of time before netizens would turn this pipe dream into reality.
If a person has to man-manage said Ticket Validator, then this is definitely a pretty novel way to pass the time. Of course, the controls might not be the best, which is a death sentence in a run-and-gun title like Doom.
12 Vape
Vaping has become all the rage right now. The detrimental effects of this form of smoking should be kept in mind, although it’s an alternative that’s still widely considered to be better than smoking tobacco.
Gamers who want their vape to provide some sort of entertainment on the side will be happy to know that some advanced models can actually run Doom! It’s pretty cool that some people actually bothered to make a functional copy of Doom within a vape.
11 iPod Mini
Before the days of the Apple Revolution, the iPod Mini and Nano were two of the most popular Apple products around. However, the company realized that physical music players would become a thing of the past and moved into the cellphone market, which turned out to be the best move for this company.
Despite this, the iPod Mini still holds a soft spot in the hearts of many music fans. The fact that people recently got Doom to work on this system shows just how much love still exists for this music player.
10 Karaoke Machine
Using karaoke machines is a great way for people to vent out some of their frustrations. But these machines can be used in a much less conventional way.
If players ever find themselves getting the urge to shoot up some demons from hell while singing karaoke, then this TJ Taijin Media Ziller B80 karaoke machine should be right up their alley. Though it can run the game, getting certain inputs to work might be difficult.
9 Pregnancy Test
It goes without saying that playing a computer game on a pregnancy test seems like an outright impossibility. But it seems all the more likely thanks to one programmer.
A Twitter user by the name of foone posted a video on the platform where they were legitimately playing Doom on a pregnancy test. Of course, the display wasn’t that great, but the fact that such a simple device could run a classic like Doom is quite the sight to behold.
8 Thermostat
Thermostats have become quite advanced in modern times. These devices come fully equipped with powerful processors and screens, so it was only a matter of time before someone would run Doom on this system.
Well, that’s exactly what turned out to be the case. A programmer managed to run a fully-function port of Doom on a Honeywell Prestige thermostat, which is certainly a great way to enjoy a pleasant temperature while shooting down hellspawn in the process.
7 MacBook Pro Touch Bar
It doesn’t take an expert to figure out that the MacBook Pro is able to run Doom. However, a Facebook engineer by the name of Adam Bell took this one step further by allowing for Doom to be played on the new Macbook Pro’s touch bar.
The image is so minuscule that it seems like it’s downright impossible to play on. However, Bell was obviously aware of this limitation and ran a version of Doom that portrayed all its HUD elements on the touch bar instead, which is extremely impressive.
6 Siemens S65/Sony Ericsson K800i
Given the fact that both the Siemens S65 and the Sony Ericsson K800i are cellphones mired in the past, it’s only fitting to group these two devices together. The fact that both these ancient devices can run Doom is an achievement in itself.
Of course, the fact that both mobiles are extremely small means that playing Doom can pose a substantial challenge. However, it’s the novelty of these phones even being capable of running Doom that makes them such a notable mention on this list.
5 Apple Watch
The Apple Watch is one of the most powerful pieces of technology around. The fact that everything from calls to fitness can be tracked with a wristwatch is no mean feat.
So, it was only a given that someone would take this unique piece of technology and make Doom run on it. This ingeniosity resulted from a 10-hour hackathon at Facebook’s Tel Aviv office.
4 Chainsaw
The chainsaw is one of the most iconic weapons in Doom’s history. So, it would obviously be poetic to play a version of Doom that runs on a chainsaw of its own!
Of course, there are some technicalities here to keep in mind. This chainsaw is actually an Echo Junior Chainsaw toy that had its inner materials replaced with a portable power supply, a Raspberry Pi Zero, a 320×240 2.2-inch LCD screen, and a wireless receiver for a controller.
3 NES Classic
The NES Classic has surprisingly become one of the most coveted consoles around. Its limited release meant that players were going haywire in an attempt to obtain this unique console, with some people going overboard in regards to tinkering with the console.
This has led to various modding and hacking tools, some of which allow Doom to be played on the console. If that wasn’t great enough as is, modders have tinkered around even more, allowing for Brutal Doom — a popular conversion mod of the original — to be playable on the NES classic as well.
2 Sonic Mania
Despite its age, there are aspects of Doom that still impress fans, such as a version of the game running in Sonic Mania. This mod was created during the Sonic Hacking Contest 2020, and it’s quite an achievement indeed.
Of course, without any in-game mouse support, it can be quite a challenge to play Doom in the game. However, the fact that such a mod exists is quite notable in its own right.
1 The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
One of the most legendary games of all time, The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind set the stage for a franchise that would dominate the gaming industry for years to come. The game itself is now a little dated, although still good enough to run Doom.
Of course, there are a few loopholes required to enable this. For starters, players need to be using the engine reimplementation OpenMW on Linux for their copy of Morrowind. The mod only works for this version and implements a Dwemer computer south of Seyda Neen that can run pretty much any DOS game including Doom.
Doomwas originally released in December 1993 for multiple platforms and has been ported to many systems over the years.
