If you’ve been involved at all with the world of video games in the last couple of decades then no doubt you would have heard the question – “but does it run doom?”. The basis of this question is very simple, reflecting how well the game is optimized on low-power devices. As CBR notes, enterprising individuals have gotten it running on smart-fridges, calculators, printers, calculators, and now, naturally, on Twitter.

What the Hell?

Like some of the more esoteric ways Doom is run on strange devices, not all of the processing of the game is run on Twitter, rather, Twitter acts as a way for the game to interpret and deliver commands. In this way, it’s a lot like the Twitch Plays Pokémon craze a few years ago. To control Doomguy, Twitter users send a bunch of simple commands, which are then translated into movement and shooting on the game’s end.

Author: @attiegrande | Depth: 2 | New frames: 138 | Total frames: 488
Play: 4-f,13-usf,3-usl<,20-us,5-usr,10-us,p,27-,3-us,11-usr,2-us>,p,37-,p pic.twitter.com/ocZykQgvik

— Tweet2Doom (@tweet2doom) October 15, 2021

In essence, this system acts in the same way as Doom’s official demo files, only on a vastly simplified scale. Sure, nobody in their right mind is actually going to play Doom this way, but it’s a fun experiment, and it says a lot about the flexibility the system enjoys. Perhaps more importantly, on a wider scale, this move illustrates just how broad the entire horror genre has become. Far from being limited to the dark movie theatres or novels in which horror originated, horror availability is now more popular and bizarre than ever before.

Chancing an Extra Step

As obvious fans of horror, we need to appreciate that every step the genre takes, no matter how niche, will contribute to building a healthier overall culture. On a more indirect scale, this could be illustrated by its popularity in non-traditional media, such as online casino games. Here, many different websites like those on Bonusfinder Canada start by drawing in players through promises like free spins and deposit matches, but these are just the first steps. Inside, many of these websites’ most popular games like Bloodsuckers II and Immortal Romance serve to bolster public recognition of horror, driving it evermore into the mainstream.

More directly, thanks have to have to the growing fame of jump-scare titles as popularised by Five Nights at Freddy’s. As explored by Forbes, this title has gone beyond just its own fame, inspiring developments on other platforms like Overwatch’s Workshop mode. It’s these small additions, while almost inconsequential in their own right, which keep horror reaching into the minds of those who would otherwise ignore the genre. Efforts like these, Doom, and casino games might only need a small grip, but as anyone who loves horror can tell you, that can be all horror needs to pull you under.

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So, what comes next for Doom? The real question is what system that has a screen hasn’t yet been adapted to play the game. Approaching 30 years since its launch, Doom still maintains a popular place in the gaming zeitgeist, and while its graphics might not hold the shock value they once did, its appeal is still undeniable. If you haven’t already, consider giving it a go, and you might be surprised to see just how much it’s influenced the horror you already love.