Once again it’s time to open up the massive and ancient tome titled “Things You Can Play Doom On” and update it. Now, thanks to the magic of the future, you can play id’s classic ‘90s FPS on a robo-lawnmower, just as John Carmack intended…probably.
Last week, landscaping tech company Husqvarna announced that the classic shooter—featuring a lone space marine fighting off waves of demons with a shotgun and chainsaw—will be able to run on some of its fancier robotic lawnmowers. This isn’t a fan-made hack or weird unlicensed port, either. This is an official partnership with Bethesda—owners of id Software—to bring the original 1993 Doom to Husqvarna robo-mowers.
This new way to play Doom arrives in April on all Nera robotic lawnmower models. You don’t have to pay for the game, either, just a $2,000+ lawnmower. Instead, just download it and play the shooter via the robo-mower’s built-in screen. To rotate your view, you turn the knob and to shoot demons, you press it down. You hold the start button to move forward.
A few caveats to mention. First, this isn’t available in the United States. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps we can’t be trusted with video games on lawnmowers? Secondly, this isn’t all of Doom. Instead, it’s just the first episode—Knee Deep In The Dead—which is arguably its most famous one, sure, but just keep in mind you won’t be able to play the rest of the beloved shooter in the middle of your backyard on a tiny LCD screen. Sorry.
Sadly, this won’t be a permanent feature that you can show off to family and friends for years to come. Instead, Doom and all its demons and guns will be removed from lawnmowers on September 9. So enjoy it while you can.
But don’t worry. Once Doom is removed from the lawnmowers, there will still be plenty of weird and terrible ways to play the iconic FPS. For example, you can play Doom on a cash register, a farming tractor, a pregnancy test, and even a Lego brick. You are likely no more than 20 feet away from a device that can be hacked (or already has been) to play it. That’s a comforting thought in these dark, depressing times.
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