Can a cardboard box run Doom II? Yes

If a gadget has a processor in it, then there’s a decent chance someone’s tried to hack it to run Doom. A Nintendo Game & Watch? Naturally. A MacBook Pro Touch Bar? Sure. Calculators? Why not. Now, thanks to YouTube channel Games Made of Cardboard, we can finally add “cardboard boxes” to that illustrious list.

Ok, so technically Bill Thorpe hasn’t done the impossible and successfully got classic first-person shooter Doom II to run on an actual cardboard box. But his 10-minute long video is the next best thing. It recreates many of the game’s best moments using cardboard sets, characters, and weapons. It’s a huge project that the video’s description says took nine months of work to complete.

The models are one thing, but perhaps what’s most impressive is the video’s special effects. Enemies occasionally bleed real liquid onto their cardboard surroundings, or burst into real flames and burn to a crisp. At one point one enemy gets its little head blown off, revealing a little cardboard skull inside. Original Doom II programmer John Romero even makes a cameo appearance.

Unfortunately, it seems Thorpe plans for his Doom II cardboard recreation to be his last. In a video released last September, the YouTuber said he hopes to go out on a high after putting so much work into the project. Thankfully you can find a significant back catalogue of other classic games recreated in cardboard on his channel, alongside a host of making-of videos about his Doom II recreation.