DOOMscroll
About DOOMscroll
A shooter you play by scrolling, with today's real news headlines on the walls.
You scroll (or swipe) to move deeper into a cavern while your weapon fires on its own. Every 100 kills you choose an upgrade: Power for harder shots or Spread for an extra stream of bullets. Stop scrolling too long and a wall of fire catches you.
The plaques on the walls show that day's real New York Times front-page headlines, which is the joke: you are literally doomscrolling. Scores combine distance and kills, with daily and all-time leaderboards.
How DOOMscroll was made with AI
Friedman, who says he isn't a coder, first tried with GPT-4 and gave up: it 'absolutely refused to understand that scrolling down a page means that the background should move up the page.' When GPT-5 came out he had 'a very good prototype' in about two hours, then polished it for an hour or two each morning on vacation. He even had ChatGPT build small slider 'labs' to tune the art.
Made by David Friedman (Ironic Sans).
How to play
Press Play here to load DOOMscroll directly inside this page, or open it in a new tab for dedicated window focus. Use a desktop computer with a keyboard and mouse for the most responsive control.
| Scroll / swipe | Move deeper |
|---|---|
| P | Pause |
Quick facts
- Published 9 September 2025
- Headlines come from the NYT front-page RSS feed
- Installable as a home-screen app
- Plays like a top-down shooter, not a first-person Doom clone
Questions about DOOMscroll
How do you play Doomscroll?
You scroll (or swipe) to move deeper into a cavern while your weapon fires on its own. Every 100 kills you choose an upgrade: Power for harder shots or Spread for an extra stream of bullets. Stop scrolling too long and a wall of fire catches you.
What are the plaques on the walls?
They show that day's real New York Times front-page headlines, pulled from the NYT front-page RSS feed. You are literally doomscrolling.
Is Doomscroll an official Doom game?
No. It is a top-down shooter inspired by the idea of doomscrolling, published by David Friedman (Ironic Sans) in September 2025.
Can I install it on my phone?
Yes, it is installable as a home-screen app.
Tips for DOOMscroll
- Never stop scrolling: the wall of fire is the only real fail state.
- Spread shines against dense crowds, Power against tanky single targets; pick per run based on what kills you.
- Scores combine distance and kills, so push both rather than camping safe stretches.
Sources: ironicsans.ghost.io, gisnep.com. Last checked .
