About Doom
Doom is a first-person shooter that id Software developed and published for MS-DOS on December 10, 1993. It was the first game in the Doom series. John Romero, Tom Hall and Sandy Petersen designed it, and Robert Prince wrote the music. You play a space marine, later given the unofficial nickname Doomguy, who fights through hordes of undead humans and invading demons. The campaign begins on the moons of Mars and finishes in hell, and every level asks you to find its exit or defeat its final boss.
Doom is an early example of 3D graphics in games, with enemies and objects drawn as 2D images, a technique sometimes called 2.5D. The original ran on the Doom engine and supported both single-player and multiplayer games. Much later re-releases moved to other technology: the 2019 version uses Unity, and the 2024 version uses the KEX Engine.
How it runs in your browser
Press Play and DOS.Zone’s Doom page opens in a new tab. DOS.Zone boots the original MS-DOS release inside an emulated PC using js-dos, its open-source build of DOSBox for the browser. Everything the game needs is loaded from the site, so you install nothing, supply no files of your own and skip any sign-up. The site doesn’t show ads. Its players give this listing 5 out of 5 across 2,327 reviews.
DOS.Zone also runs a multiplayer room for Doom at dos.zone/multiplayer/doom. The host doesn’t explain how matches are organized there, so read the room’s page before you invite anyone.
The second host, silentspacemarine.com, takes a different route. Its Wasm Doom is a Doom source port compiled to WebAssembly rather than an emulated PC. It was set up as a Cloudflare experiment using Workers, WebSockets and Durable Objects, and it offers solo play as well as online multiplayer. It uses the shareware episode, not the full game. If Doom II deathmatch is what you’re after, our DOOM II Multiplayer page drops you into the match running on doom.pieter.com.
Controls and devices
Doom was made for a keyboard, and both hosts are set up for a keyboard and mouse. The key bindings aren’t listed here, so check the host’s page for the layout before you start. On phones, DOS.Zone offers virtual on-screen controls, but this is a game built around a keyboard and mouse, so a computer is the better choice. Chromebooks haven’t been confirmed either way.
Who it’s for
The DOS.Zone listing suits anyone who wants the 1993 game as it ran on MS-DOS rather than one of the later re-releases, and newer players curious about where the series began. Pick silentspacemarine.com when you’d rather try online play in a source port and the shareware episode is enough for you. For id Software’s shooter from the year before, Wolfenstein 3D is on DOS.Zone too, and our Quake page has the first episode of the studio’s 1996 shooter.
Is Doom Free, Safe and Official?
Can I play Doom online for free?
Yes. DOS.Zone runs the original game free with no account and has a multiplayer room for Doom. The second host, silentspacemarine.com, also offers online multiplayer, but it uses the shareware episode rather than the full game.
Do I need the original Doom game files?
No. DOS.Zone loads the game files from its own site and runs them through js-dos, so there’s nothing to install and nothing of your own to supply.
Does Doom work on a phone?
DOS.Zone offers virtual on-screen controls for phones, but Doom was built for a keyboard and mouse, so a desktop or laptop is the better fit.
