Earlier this week, a Twitter user named GaryOderNichts pulled off an impressive feat by hacking a Nintendo Alarmo alarm clock to run the shareware version of Doom. He shared a video showcasing his achievement via a Twitter thread, catching the attention of many gaming enthusiasts.
In the thread, Gary explained that while audio support isn’t available just yet, there’s a workaround to the tricky USB loader memory size restrictions. You’ll need to compress and then uncompress the Doom shareware .wad file on boot. But don’t worry—you won’t have to tinker with your Alarmo yourself. Gary has kindly uploaded all the necessary project files on GitHub for anyone curious enough to try.
Are you wondering how all this was made possible? Gary took a deep dive into his Alarmo to identify its internal components. It turns out, it’s powered by an STM32H730ZBI6 Arm Cortex-M7 processor, which has plenty of documentation available. This insight allowed him to cleverly connect his hacked Alarmo to a Raspberry Pi, setting the stage for Doom to run on this unexpected device.
Although Gary had to do some soldering and modifications initially, the method he shared on GitHub doesn’t require such extensive alterations. You can actually launch Doom on a regular Alarmo using just a USB, which is pretty neat.
Playing Doom on the Nintendo Alarmo relies on its top controls, consisting of two buttons and a touch dial. In what could be called ‘Alarmo Doom,’ you swipe to aim left and right, and use the notification button to shoot. The video he shared shows these controls in action during one of Doom’s earlier levels, though not all controls are fully detailed or utilized.
This isn’t the first time Doom has been played on an unconventional piece of technology. Whether it’s a $99 alarm clock like the Nintendo Alarmo or even more unusual devices, Doom has found its way onto some surprising platforms. From a smart lawnmower to the Raspberry Pi Pico RP2350 microcontroller, and even an expansion card for the ancient Commodore 64 to run it all—it seems Doom can end up virtually anywhere these days.
