Chocolate Doom in your browser — with your own copy Works well — minimalist, no DirectX needed
Guide updated July 2026 · Runs via Wine 1.7.55 (Win32) + WebAssembly · Requires your own copy
Chocolate Doom is the source port built for one purpose: to play exactly like the 1993 original, bugs and all. It's deliberately minimalist — no fancy 3D, no DirectX 9, no launcher bloat — but we don't host it, so this is a bring-your-own-copy guide: load the real Win32 build with the freely-redistributable shareware DOOM1.WAD using the uploader below and it runs on Wine + WebAssembly entirely in this tab. Fair warning: the port's SDL2 rendering is still shaky under browser Wine, so treat it as an experiment — if you just want to be in Knee-Deep in the Dead right now, the hosted DOOM95 build on this page is the one-click route to pixel-faithful, vanilla Doom.
Runs in your browser tab with WebAssembly + Wine — nothing is uploaded. Click the screen to capture input; press Esc to release the mouse.
Chocolate Doom is MIT-licensed. SDL2 rendering does not yet work under Wine + WebAssembly here — use the hosted DOOM95 build above, or try uploading chocolate-doom.exe with your own WAD file for experimentation.
Get Chocolate Doom + the free shareware WAD
Chocolate Doom is open-source (GPL v2) and the shareware DOOM1.WAD is freely redistributable, so you can grab both at no cost:
- Chocolate Doom 2.3.0 (SDL 1.2) — recommended for the browser
- Latest releases on GitHub (3.0+, SDL2)
- DOOM shareware (Internet Archive) — for DOOM1.WAD
Unzip the port, drop DOOM1.WAD in the same folder, then use “Load your own copy” above to run them together. Source under GPL-2.0; the registered episodes and Doom II are commercial and not included — buy those from id / Steam.
How it works & what to expect
Why Chocolate Doom runs so well here
Most modern Doom source ports (GZDoom and friends) lean on OpenGL or DirectX hardware acceleration — exactly the things 32-bit Wine 1.7.55 inside an emulator handles worst. Chocolate Doom goes the other way on purpose. It renders the original 320×200 software framebuffer through SDL and can fall back to plain Windows GDI, with no demand for a GPU or shader pipeline. That low-tech approach is what makes it one of the friendlier games for ExeBrowser: the heavy lifting is just CPU drawing a tiny frame, which the WebAssembly x86 emulator can keep up with comfortably.
It's a 32-bit Win32 executable with no 64-bit dependency, no .NET, and no DRM, so it sits squarely inside what this environment supports.
Which build to load (this matters)
Chocolate Doom comes in two lineages, and the older one is the safer bet in the browser:
- 2.3.0 (SDL 1.2) — the last release before the SDL2 rewrite. It does all its drawing in software with the simplest possible video path, which tends to be the most reliable under Boxedwine. Start here.
- 3.0 and newer (SDL2) — these moved screen scaling into hardware for crisp high-resolution windows. That's great natively but asks more of the emulated graphics layer, so it can be hit-or-miss in a tab. Try it only if the 2.x build misbehaves.
Whichever you load, drop the source-port EXE and DOOM1.WAD into the same folder so the engine finds its game data.
What to expect — honestly
Video: the game itself is featherweight, so the picture should be smooth on a modern laptop. Older Chromebooks and tablets emulate x86 more slowly — playable, but don't expect a perfectly locked frame rate.
Audio: sound is the usual wildcard under Boxedwine. Music and effects may work, stutter, or stay silent depending on your browser and the build; the gameplay is unaffected if audio drops out. The leaner 2.3.0 build is generally the better-behaved one.
Setup screen: Chocolate Doom ships a separate chocolate-setup.exe for key bindings and options. The game runs fine with defaults, so you can skip it — but if you do open it, choose the software/GDI video options rather than anything labeled fullscreen-accelerated.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chocolate Doom free and legal to play here?
Yes. Chocolate Doom itself is open-source under the GNU GPL v2, so it can be freely redistributed. The game data we load is DOOM1.WAD — the first episode, Knee-Deep in the Dead, released as free shareware in 1993 and still freely redistributable. The registered episodes and Doom II are commercial; buy those from id / Steam and load your own WAD.
What's the difference between Chocolate Doom and just running DOOM?
Chocolate Doom is a modern recompilation of id's open-sourced engine that intentionally preserves vanilla behavior — same 320×200 look, same limits, same quirks as the 1993 game — while being a clean 32-bit Win32 EXE that's easy to run on today's systems. Plain DOS DOOM.EXE can be fussy under Wine; Chocolate Doom sidesteps that and is the closest thing to original-accurate Doom that runs reliably in a browser tab.
Does Chocolate Doom need DirectX or a GPU to run?
No. It draws in software through SDL and can use plain Windows GDI, so it needs neither DirectX 9+ nor a graphics card. That's exactly why it runs better here than heavier ports like GZDoom, which rely on hardware acceleration that 32-bit Wine on WebAssembly handles poorly.
Why is there no sound, or why does it stutter?
Audio is the least reliable part of emulating an x86 Win32 app inside WebAssembly. Music and sound effects may work, crackle, or stay silent depending on your browser and the build you load. It doesn't affect gameplay. The older 2.3.0 (SDL 1.2) build tends to behave best — try that first.
Can I play deathmatch or co-op online here?
Not in the browser. Chocolate Doom's networking expects real UDP sockets, which this emulated environment doesn't provide. Single-player and loading the shareware episode work; multiplayer netplay does not.
More you can run in your browser
- DOOM (1993)The original shareware build, playable in a tab.
- FreedoomFree, GPL-friendly replacement Doom IWADs.
- Crispy / source portsMore vanilla-accurate Doom engines.
- Wolfenstein 3Did's earlier shareware FPS in the browser.
- Heretic & HexenRaven's GPL fantasy shooters, vanilla-style.
- Compatibility guideWhat runs well, what doesn't, and why.