Home Assistant Runs DOOM Game

The project originated from a conversation at a Home Assistant community meetup in Cologne, Germany. Inspired by the long-running "will it run DOOM?" meme, the developer decided to see if the home automation platform could join the extensive list of devices capable of playing the game. Technically, the integration doesn't run the game on the server hardware itself, but rather within the user's dashboard. It uses js-dos, a version of the DOSBox emulator compiled to WebAssembly, to execute the original 1993 shareware version of DOOM.EXE directly in a web browser card. In a surprising twist, the entire custom integration was created by artificial intelligence. The developer reported that everything from the Python backend and TypeScript frontend card to the documentation was written by GitHub Copilot, taking less than two hours from the initial prompt to the final product. As a full-fledged Home Assistant component, the game can trigger smart home automations. For example, users can configure their smart lights to turn red when a game session begins and revert to the previous state after the game is closed. This achievement places Home Assistant in a long line of unconventional platforms modified to run the classic shooter. For over three decades, a widespread hacker and tinkerer challenge has been to port DOOM onto any device with a screen and a processor. The list of unusual devices that have successfully run DOOM is extensive and varied. It includes items such as a Honeywell Prestige smart thermostat, an electric toothbrush, a smart cooking pot, and even a Lego brick.