The Backdooms
Games
browser game
SHOW HN2025
How HN took it
18 positive, 12 neutral or asking, 2 mixed, 18 critical, out of 50 comments about the project. Thread score +0.07.
Idea: 9 for, 0 againstExecution: 2 for, 6 againstDocs: 1 for, 4 againstPerformance: 0 for, 4 againstPrivacy: 0 for, 3 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Impressive compression trick and clever proof of concept
From 3 comments
After several tries, i managed to play it, sort of, on Brave on my Samsung S9. Very impressive compression trick, as a proof of concept, it is worthy of praise, congrats. I…
Mainan_Tagonist on HNVery cool! You‘ve definitely motivated me to continue my own experimentation in the realm of „what cool stuff can I put in a QR code“:…
alex_suzuki on HNI don't want to take away from the achievement because it really is awesome, and should be celebrated. ...but... It seems like a fundamental design issue to make a QR code game…
Lerc on HN
Fun and cool project
From 3 comments
crazy stuff!!
bhavik_dand on HNWow!
tempodox on HNcute
badmonster on HN
Objections
Doesn't work with the iPhone native QR scanner; needs a third-party scanner
From 3 comments
I scanned on an iPhone using native QR code scanner and it says "no usable data found".
giarc on HNdata: URI URLs aren't supported in it, it has nothing to do with the size / length of the QR code For example, this self-contained webpage: <html><body>Hi!</body></html> encoded…
pudquick on HNI'm saying the primary gateway most iOS users are using for loading a QR code - the camera app - will not present a transition to load your URL in this situation Whether the…
pudquick on HN
Controls and mobile support are broken or missing
From 3 comments
Doesnt work on iOS (ipad). A screenshot would be nice.
ant6n on HNStill black screen on Firefox mobile.
xandrius on HNTested it on an offline Android. I'm amazed that it works, although I could never figure out the controls so I always end up dead within a few seconds! You might want to explain…
sebastiennight on HN
Security concerns about running code from QR codes
From 2 comments
I'm kinda relieved that it doesn't work on an iPhone. I often scan codes posted around to save the time typing URLs and running arbitrary code by just scanning a QR code freaks…
Jerry2 on HNOr much more malevolent as well. Just because something novel and fun/entertaining can be done does not mean assholes will not use the same techniques for their gain. PoCs like…
dylan604 on HN
Requests
Add screenshots or a GIF to the README
From 2 comments
How can there not be even one screenshot of the game in the readme?
deadbabe on HNPlease add a few screenshots to the repo. I am on phone and for whatever reason all I could see was 3 buttons and black screen. Edit: Add a gif instead, you won't have to rely on…
smusamashah on HN
Document the game controls
From 1 comment
Tested it on an offline Android. I'm amazed that it works, although I could never figure out the controls so I always end up dead within a few seconds! You might want to explain…
sebastiennight on HN
Better mobile touch support
From 2 comments
fwiw, it works fine with the Pixel's built-in QR code scanner. It recognises it as text, not a URL, but it can copy to clipboard and then pasting in the browser works. Obviously…
ascorbic on HNI don't want to take away from the achievement because it really is awesome, and should be celebrated. ...but... It seems like a fundamental design issue to make a QR code game…
Lerc on HN
Questions
Why not just use a URL instead of a QR code?
From 1 comment
Or... use a URL. I'm sure the number of people who've ever scanned a QR code on a desktop computer is more than zero, but not much more.
iainmerrick on HN
Is the QR code itself a self-contained program?
From 1 comment
Pardon my dumb query, as I'm a tech novice, but aren't QR just encodings of data? And the max amount of data a QR can encode is like 3kb, which would roughly correspond to 3000…
cosignal on HN
Alternatives named
Wolfenstein 3D and Hovertank 3D (raycasting comparisons)
From 2 comments
Very cool! Minor nitpick though: DOOM didn’t use raycasting. This is really a Wolfenstein 3D-like, since Wolf3D did use ray casting.
bananaboy on HNGiven the lack of textured walls, it's more like a Hovertank 3D-like.
Narishma on HN
.kkrieger
From 1 comment
Love these minimal game projects. Reminds me of .kkrieger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.kkrieger
Barrin92 on HN
Doom running on Raspberry Pi Pico 2 at DEF CON 32
From 1 comment
In the last Def Con 32 the badge can run full Doom on Pico 2 [1]. [1] Running Doom on the Raspberry Pi Pico 2: A Def Con 32 Badge Hack:…
teleforce on HN