Technology

DOOM gets ported to board design app, transforming walls into PCB traces, iconic demons into 64-pin packages, and ammo into 3-pin parts — fully playable KiCAD editor port runs at up to 25 FPS on modern systems

Source

Tom's Hardware

Published

Nov 28, 2025

TL;DR

AI Generated

Developer Michael Ayles has created KiDOOM, a version of DOOM that runs within the KiCad PCB design application, where walls become PCB traces and demons are 64-pin packages. The game is fully playable within the KiCAD editor, running at up to 25 FPS on modern systems. Ayles emphasizes that KiDOOM isn't DOOM running in KiCAD; rather, KiCAD serves as the display renderer while the game engine runs separately. The unique combination of EDA, CAD, and DOOM allows each frame to create a legitimate PCB design that could potentially be fabricated. Ayles provides optimizations and settings for smooth gameplay, encouraging users to try KiDOOM themselves.

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