DOOM CAPTCHA invites users to play FPS to prove they’re human

DOOM CAPTCHA has taken a fresh and fun approach to the otherwise mundane world of CAPTCHA verification. Created by Guillermo Rauch, this challenge tasks users with playing a short scenario in the iconic DOOM video game, tasked to kill three demons to prove they are human. The concept injects nostalgia and interactivity into an everyday online task, making it entertaining while keeping its functional aspect intact.

While highly engaging for gamers and people not in a hurry, the DOOM CAPTCHA is more complex and time-consuming than traditional puzzles, so this is more of a fun experiment than a potential replacement for established verification solutions.

Users with physical disabilities, limited motor skills, or cognitive impairments might find the game interface challenging to navigate. Moreover, older devices, slow internet connections, and obsolete browsers may struggle to render the gaming environment, even if it’s admittedly very simple. Ultimately, not all users are comfortable with or enjoy gaming mechanics, which could lead to frustration or a reluctance to complete the CAPTCHA.

Despite these limitations, the DOOM CAPTCHA highlights how creativity can refresh online security measures, offering a unique take on the otherwise monotonous CAPTCHA landscape.

Defeating bots, one DOOM demon at a time

The need for more innovative CAPTCHA solutions has grown as artificial intelligence continues to outpace traditional mechanisms. Recent research has demonstrated that modern AI systems, powered by advanced machine learning models like YOLO, can solve even the most complex image- and text-based CAPTCHA challenges with near-perfect accuracy​.

This has rendered once-reliable methods like Google’s reCAPTCHAv2 and even behavior-based reCAPTCHAv3 increasingly vulnerable. AI bots can now mimic human behavior, solve image puzzles, and bypass audio CAPTCHAs with high efficiency. These advancements have pushed developers toward more dynamic and creative CAPTCHA designs, such as mini-games or abstract reasoning puzzles, and this DOOM-styled recreation is one example of this.

However, the push for security often comes at the cost of usability. As CAPTCHAs become more complex to counter AI, they risk alienating legitimate users—a delicate balance that developers must continually refine.

A balanced solution is likely one that offers a choice between interactive tasks and simpler alternatives, keeps all challenges compatible with assistive technologies, and tailors the CAPTCHA difficulty based on user behavior, location, device, and demographic information.

Those intrigued by the creative DOOM CAPTCHA experiment can try it out from here. Be warned, the test is set to reflect DOOM’s highest difficulty level, ‘Nightmare!,’ so you might need several tries to complete it.