Developer Michael Ayles has unleashed a version of DOOM that runs within a PCB design application, of all places. KiDOOM is a portmanteau of KiCad, the free and open source electronic design automation (EDA) software suite, and DOOM, the influential first-person shooter (FPS) that pioneered and shaped the genre for eternity. In this release, the game world is rendered fast and fluid in KiCAD’s PCB editing viewport. However, the dev makes it clear KiDOOM isn’t DOOM running in KiCAD; the EDA app is actually the display renderer, the game engine is a separate process.
Image 1 of 2 “1982 vector arcade game meets 1993 FPS meets 2025 PCB editor” (Image credit: Michael Ayles “1982 vector arcade game meets 1993 FPS meets 2025 PCB editor” (Image credit: Michael Ayles
The seminal 1993 FPS has looked better, and also a lot worse, but this version, using the KiCad renderer, certainly has a retro style we appreciate. To our eyes, the visuals are reminiscent of the Atari Battlezone wireframe arcade games or the Vectrex era. They could have probably been more firmly cemented in this era, but for Ayles deciding to use preset 64-pin packages for demons, and humble 3-pin parts for ammo clips. But that’s fun too, especially for electronics enthusiasts.
Every frame is a “legitimate PCB design”
In addition to marveling over this combination of EDA, CAD, and DOOM, our hearts are warmed by the dev’s assertion that “every frame creates a legitimate PCB design that could theoretically be fabricated.”
So, instead of a screenshot to recall a particularly frantic and fun DOOM escapade, you could even fab a unique commemorative PCB. Don’t expect to do anything with the PCB, other than hang it on your wall or use it as a table mat, though.
Three parallel visualizations
Ayles explains that KiDOOM provides triple mode rendering for different use-cases, with three parallel visualizations, and every frame traverses a six-stage pipeline. Luckily, for fluidity, the dev noticed that “DOOM's engine already calculates visible geometry as vectors. PCB traces ARE vectors.” Thus, for speed and efficiency, “Instead of 64,000 pixels, we need 100-300 line segments.”
In gameplay, between the neon wireframe walls, you will see demons and zombies rendered as QFP-64 packages, barrels, dead bodies, and torches as SOIC-8 packages, and collectables like health packs, ammo, and keycards using SOT-3 components.
KiDOOM performance
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