Doom’s own John Romero plays the infamous ‘MyHouse’ map

Imagine Doom‘s creator playing your Doom map

If you haven’t been keeping up with the Doom community lately, thenyou may have missed the unsettling .WAD file simply called “MyHouse.” This has been doing the rounds on a number of YouTube channels, as fans work their way through this bizarre, unofficial map.

Now, the custom level has found its way to John Romero’s computer. As the co-creator of the original Doom and Doom 2, Romero is something of a celebrity in the video game world. Helping to establish the early days of the FPS genre through a young id Software, the designer and programmer is as notable for his contribution to development as he is for his legendary long hair.

Seeing Romero play the “MyHouse” WAD file is an interesting spectacle, especially once he gets into the meat of the level. Without spoiling too much, MyHouse.WAD, created by Steve “Veddge” Nelson, is a rather unique take on classic Doom. Beginning as an innocent enough-looking mod that features the original game’s iconic monsters, things soon take a bizarre turn.

Throughout the playthrough, which lasts just over an hour, Romero makes a few comments about the map, saying the word “cool” a helluva lot. It takes him a while to get going as he searches the titular house to make sure he’s seen everything. Once it all kicks off, he seems very impressed with what Veddge has put together. Romero particularly likes the way the music alters as he progresses through the level.

While you could argue that he hasn’t made as much of an impact since the early days of Doom and Quake, John Romero is still making games. In fact, he’s still tinkering with Doom, having released the SIGIL episode in 2019 as well as working on SIGIL 2.

You can download MyHouse.WAD from Doom World if you want to try it for yourself (which we recommend you do). Note: you will need GZDoom in order to run it.