November 28, 2025, 11:48 am | Read time: 7 minutes
A curious cult has developed around the video game “Doom.” The title can now be played not only on conventional gaming devices but also on hardware where you would never expect it.
“Doom” launched in 1993. Due to its success, the game eventually became an entire series, now among the world’s most famous video game franchises. Identifying what particularly appealed to players back then is, of course, challenging. The post-apocalyptic moon surface setting was certainly well-received. Additionally, an advanced game engine enabled 3D graphics through a clever trick.
The game quickly became a cult classic, and it became a sport to make the title playable on as many devices as possible. What started as a community joke quickly took on a life of its own and was even used by manufacturers for marketing purposes. TECHBOOK presents some of the quirkiest devices on which you can play “Doom.”
Overview
Unusual Devices on Which You Can Play “Doom”
For fans of the classic “Doom” and passionate gamers and developers alike, it’s an entertaining game—in more ways than one. Many of the devices listed here, on which the shooter runs, are intended more as jokes. However, the technology behind them is sometimes truly fascinating.
Receipt Printer
The creativity of the “Doom” community knows no bounds—but this experiment surpasses even their most chaotic ideas. Instead of running on a monitor, the shooter operates on an Epson thermal printer roll, spitting out each frame like a receipt. According to Bringus Studios, it takes up to four seconds for a movement to appear in the printed frame. The result is an absurdly comical interplay of time delay, paper jam risk, and pixelated horror, showcasing how far fans are willing to go to find new, bizarre habitats for the classic.
ATM
Back in 2014, a group of hackers in Australia managed to hack an ATM and play “Doom” on it. They had to mostly disassemble the device to do so. A connected keyboard was used for control, but the existing side buttons were also made usable. The whole setup even worked with sound.
Calculator
It’s not uncommon to see “Doom” running on a calculator. One of the most prominent projects is by the calculator-specialized community Omnimaga. The implementation was achieved back in 2011. The black-and-white graphics are surprisingly accurate, as is the control. However, the calculator struggles with transitions from light to dark.
Alarm Clock
In the fall of 2024, Nintendo surprisingly introduced something entirely different instead of a new console: the Alarmo clock. It also features a digital display—making it perfect for playing “Doom.” Hacker “GaryOderNichts” demonstrated this in a video, showing that the controls work surprisingly well with the normal operating elements of the Nintendo clock. However, the sound doesn’t work, which is ironic given that sound is the primary function of a clock.
Camera
An ambitious fan managed to run “Doom” on a digital camera from 1998! Specifically, it was a “Kodak DC260 Zoom” camera, one of the first outside the professional realm with a USB port. It was already possible to install custom software on the device—like the game “Doom.” Using the control buttons, the title even appears somewhat playable.
Toothbrush
Early in 2024, a German hacker played the shooter on a toothbrush. Important: it was a smart model with internet access and a small screen. The YouTuber also installed new software on the device. Control is via a mouse.
Pregnancy Test
In 2020, a programmer managed to run “Doom” on a truly unusual product: a pregnancy test. It’s important to note that this was an electronic device where the usual line is displayed on a screen. Initially, the programmer released material showing “Doom” running as a video on the test. Later, he actually managed to launch a playable version.
Piano
This example is somewhat of a cheat, as “Doom” isn’t actually played on a piano. However, clever tinkerers have managed to control the shooter using a piano. In this scenario, the piano becomes the controller. The whole setup is visible on a connected monitor. While watching is entertaining, we don’t necessarily recommend the acoustic experience.
Refrigerator
The exact opposite case occurred in 2020. A YouTuber managed to run “Doom” on a Samsung refrigerator. Specifically, Microsoft’s cloud gaming service Game Pass runs here, not the original “Doom,” but “Doom Eternal” from 2020. The Samsung Smart Fridge has a built-in monitor but lacks the necessary controls. So, you need an additional controller to play “Doom” on the device. However, the next snack is not far away.
Lawn Mower
The “Doom on Lawn Mower” story is more of a marketing stunt than a fan project. At the Mobile World Congress 2024, Swedish manufacturer Husqvarna showcased a model with a screen running the game “Doom.” Even the multiplayer mode is said to work. Control is via a rotary knob and several buttons—the normal operating elements of the lawn mower.
E. Coli Cells
Yes, you read that correctly, someone has managed to run “Doom” on gut bacteria. What sounds like absolute science fiction was accomplished by an MIT doctoral student in a paper published in early 2024. Individual bacteria represent the pixels, which can be either “on” or “off.”
The cell “screen” has a resolution of 32 × 48 “pixels.” Loading a single frame takes more than 70 minutes. Afterward, the screen needs 8 hours and 20 minutes to dim back down. At a frame rate of 35 frames per second (the maximum “Doom” allows), it would take about 600 years to play the game from start to finish.
“Doom” as Evidence of Technological Progress
Today’s hardware has no trouble with “Doom,” as the list of devices mentioned above hopefully proves. And this is despite the game being considered the pinnacle of gaming technology at its release. Not least, the title became the first truly successful multiplayer shooter, paving the way for many other games.
Another piece of the puzzle is that the software developers were willing to make their product available as open-source software. While the studio is not alone in this, a vibrant modding culture has developed from this practice. Behind it is a movement within the gaming community focused on modifications. Players thus develop their own content for their favorite games, often highly sophisticated in terms of content. One of the most prominent examples is “Enderal: Forgotten Stories,” a mod for “Skyrim” that is also a complete game in its own right.
Speaking of mods—one such mod made it possible to play “Doom” within the most successful video game of all time: “Minecraft.” The graphics adapt to the pixel style of “Minecraft.” For this reason, “Doom” is considered by many not only as test software that can be transferred to the most absurd devices. The game also serves as proof of the industry’s tremendous development over the past decades.