Yes, rats have been taught to navigate a Doom II-derived virtual environment and operate a physical lever mapped to the game’s firing command. The second-generation Rats Play Doom apparatus, reported in December 2025, adds a wraparound curved AMOLED display, a rotating-ball movement interface, wall-collision feedback and a mechanical firing control. But “rats can shoot Doom enemies” is shorthand for learned actions—not evidence that the animals understand weapons, enemies, objectives or combat in the human sense.
What changed in the second-generation rig?
The earlier version of the project primarily demonstrated that a rat could move through a simplified Doom-like corridor by running on an instrumented ball. The updated apparatus makes the interaction more elaborate. According to Tom’s Hardware and PC Gamer, the new system supports more nuanced navigation, gives the rat feedback when it encounters a virtual wall, and adds a physical firing input.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
DOOM: The Dark Ages – PlayStation 5 | $69.47 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
|
DOOM Eternal: Standard Edition - PlayStation 4 | $27.49 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
DOOM: The Classics Collection (Limited Run #102) | $49.95 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
DOOM + DOOM II (Limited Run Games 283) - for Nintendo Switch | $42.24 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
|
Doom - PC | $15.00 | Buy on Amazon |
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
- A rotating spherical ball translates the rat’s movement into virtual movement.
- A curved AMOLED display covers more of the animal’s forward and side-facing visual field.
- An air-puff system signals collisions with virtual walls.
- A paw-operated lever is mapped to Doom’s fire command.
- Sweetened water reinforces desired behavior.
The project is associated with neuroengineer Viktor Tóth. Electrical engineer Sándor Makra worked on the second-generation version, with Ákos Blaschek contributing to documentation and open-source preparation, according to the project’s media coverage.
How the apparatus translates rat behavior into Doom controls
This is not a brain-computer interface and not a miniature consumer VR headset. The rat’s brain is not being connected directly to the game. Instead, the system forms a conventional behavioral-conditioning loop:
#1 Best Overall
- Developed by id Software, DOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells the epic cinematic origin story of the DOOM Slayer’s rage.
- In this third installment of the modern DOOM series, players will step into the blood-stained boots of the DOOM Slayer, in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell.
- A dark fantasy/sci-fi single-player experience that delivers the searing combat and over-the-top visuals of the incomparable DOOM franchise, powered by the latest idTech engine. With a customizable difficulty system, it’s the perfect entry point whether you’re new to the franchise or a long time fan.
- As the super weapon of gods and kings, shred enemies with devastating favorites like the Super Shotgun while also wielding a variety of new bone-chewing weapons, including the versatile Shield Saw.
- Experience the origin story of the DOOM Slayer’s rage in this epic, cinematic, and action-packed story.
- Movement: The rat runs on a freely rotating spherical ball. Sensors detect the ball’s direction and rotation.
- Virtual navigation: The electronics and software convert that movement into motion through a Doom-based environment.
- Visual feedback: The animal sees the environment on a curved display positioned around its enclosure.
- Collision feedback: When the virtual character reaches a wall, an air puff indicates that forward movement has met an obstacle.
- Firing: The rat operates a nearby lever with its paws. That mechanical action is converted into the game’s fire input.
- Reinforcement: Desired actions are rewarded with sweetened water.
In software terms, it is a programmable stimulus-and-response system. In gameplay terms, the rat supplies physical inputs while the computer supplies the virtual world, feedback and rewards.
How does the rat shoot?
The firing control is a custom hand-operated lever, not a mouse, keyboard or conventional game controller. PC Gamer’s account describes a spring-loaded lever housed in a 3D-printed enclosure. A rotary encoder detects the lever’s movement, while a stepper motor actuates the mechanism.
The important distinction is that the rat is not holding a weapon or aiming at a target. It learns a paw movement that the electronics interpret as “fire.” If the game responds by launching a projectile, the system has successfully linked the lever action to that game event. That alone does not show that the rat selected an enemy, understood the projectile, or decided that firing was tactically useful.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
Why add a curved AMOLED screen?
A flat monitor can leave large parts of the rat’s visual field without a consistent virtual image. The curved display is intended to provide broader, more continuous coverage while avoiding interference with the animal’s whiskers. A panoramic screen can also reduce the sharp visual boundary between the virtual scene and the surrounding apparatus.
Some secondary reports describe the display as offering a roughly 180-degree horizontal field of view and Full HD resolution. Those specifications should be treated as project-reported details rather than independently verified performance measurements. More importantly, the available reporting does not establish that the curved screen improved learning or gameplay compared with the earlier display.
Rank #2
- Gain access to the latest demon-killing Tech with the DOOM Slayer's advanced praetor suit, including a shoulder-mounted flamethrower and the retractable wrist-mounted DOOM Blade
- Upgraded guns and mods, such as the Super shotgun's new distance-closing meat hook attachment, and abilities like the double Dash make you faster, stronger, and more versatile than ever
- You can't Kill demons when you're Dead, and you can't stay alive without resources. These tools are the key to your survival and becoming the ultimate demon-slayer
- A new class of (destructible) demon
- Battle mode is the new 2 versus 1 multiplayer experience built from the ground up at id software
“More immersive” is therefore best understood as an engineering goal, not a proven experimental result. The curved screen may make the visual environment more usable, but demonstrating that would require controlled comparisons with the previous setup.
What do the rewards and air puffs teach?
The apparatus uses reinforcement learning in the ordinary behavioral sense: actions are shaped by their consequences. Sweetened water can motivate the rat to remain engaged and repeat actions that produce a reward. The timing of that reward is crucial. If water follows many different movements, the animal may learn a broad running or lever-pulling routine rather than a specific relationship between an input and a game state.
Quick wins for a faster PC:
Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The air puffs provide a different kind of feedback. Current reporting connects them to collisions with virtual walls, helping communicate that running forward has encountered an obstacle. It would be inaccurate to describe every air puff as punishment for shooting the wrong enemy or making a strategic mistake unless the project specifically documents that use.
Are the rats really playing Doom?
The most accurate answer depends on what “playing” means.
| Level of claim | What the reported project supports |
|---|---|
| Technical interaction | The rats interact with a Doom-based virtual environment through learned physical actions. |
| Behavioral learning | The rats can learn navigation and operate a lever mapped to firing. |
| Contingency learning | The setup can teach associations between movement, controls, virtual events and rewards. |
| Human-like game comprehension | Not demonstrated. There is no established evidence that the rats understand Doom’s enemies, weapons, objectives or rules as humans do. |
So the headline is not fabricated, but it is deliberately loose. The rats have learned to interact with a game-derived system. That is a stronger claim than simply saying they ran in front of a screen, yet a much narrower claim than saying they are competent first-person-shooter players.
Rank #3
- Doom The Classics Collection physical game for Nintendo Swith.
- This includes three classic DOOM games preserved on one cartridge - DOOM, DOOM II, and DOOM 3! No game downloads required.
- Includes a full-color manual and reversible cover art.
Does shooting mean they are targeting demons?
Not necessarily. The documented achievement is lever operation mapped to firing. That is different from aiming, target selection or deliberate combat.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
To establish targeted combat behavior, researchers would need to show that firing changes systematically with an enemy’s position or presence—for example, that the rat fires more often when an enemy is visible, directs movement toward relevant targets, or behaves differently when rewards for indiscriminate firing are removed. The available coverage does not establish those results.
Likewise, a projectile hitting an enemy does not by itself prove that the animal intended to hit it. The enemy may have been positioned in the character’s path, or the rat may have pulled the lever because that action had previously produced a reward.
How long did training take?
Reported habituation to the apparatus took approximately two weeks per rat. Habituation means becoming accustomed to the enclosure, display, ball and surrounding equipment; it is not the same as completing advanced gameplay training.
The animals reportedly did not complete the full advanced-training program because of time constraints. That makes the result an initial demonstration rather than a finished, statistically validated study. The evidence supports saying that the rats learned key parts of the interface. It does not support broad claims about reliable performance across maps, enemies, altered reward schedules or different animals.
Rank #4
- DOOM + DOOM II on a region-free physical cartridge.
- Includes: DOOM, DOOM II, TNT: Evilution, The Plutonia Experiment, Master Levels for DOOM II, No Rest for the Living, Sigil & Sigil II, Legacy of Rust (a new episode created in collaboration by id Software, Nightdive Studios and MachineGames).
- A new Deathmatch map pack featuring 25 maps
- A total of 187 mission maps and 43 deathmatch maps in DOOM + DOOM II.
What the project demonstrates—and what it does not
Demonstrated by the reported update
- Habituation to a custom visual and physical apparatus.
- Navigation through a programmable virtual environment.
- Operation of a learned mechanical input.
- Interaction with game events through rewards and collision feedback.
- A practical way to synchronize animal movement, game software and external hardware.
Not demonstrated by the available evidence
- Human-like understanding of Doom.
- Strategic combat or reliable target selection.
- Understanding of “enemy,” “weapon” or “objective” as abstract game concepts.
- Level completion in the ordinary player sense.
- Generalization across maps, layouts, enemies or reward conditions.
- A completed peer-reviewed behavioral validation study.
Why Doom is useful for this kind of experiment
Doom is a practical software foundation because its technology is lightweight, familiar to developers and highly modifiable. A Doom-derived environment can provide controlled corridors, walls, enemies, movement rules and events without requiring researchers to build a complete game engine from scratch.
That does not mean the rat is engaging with Doom’s original design. The game is functioning primarily as a programmable virtual environment. Researchers can change the map, stimuli, controls and reward logic while recording the animal’s behavior.
Secondary reports identify a modified version of ViZDoom, with control responsibilities divided between a PC and a Raspberry Pi. The PC reportedly handles the game environment, while the microcomputer interfaces with sensors and mechanical components. These implementation details should be treated as media-reported project specifications unless confirmed in the project’s own documentation at Rats Play Doom.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The scientific value is the interface, not demon slaying
The viral image is a rat running through Doom while pulling a trigger. The more durable contribution is the interface itself. A programmable virtual environment can let researchers:
Recommended Free Tools
- measure movement continuously rather than relying only on maze endpoints;
- change environments without rebuilding physical mazes;
- synchronize visual stimuli, mechanical inputs and rewards;
- add behavioral complexity one action at a time;
- compare how animals respond to different layouts and feedback rules.
The project therefore sits closer to animal-behavior engineering than to novelty gaming. Its usefulness depends on whether the apparatus produces interpretable, repeatable behavior—not whether the rat can be described as an esports player.
Best Value
- A Relentless Campaign: There is no taking cover or stopping to regenerate health as you beat back Hell's raging demon hordes
- Return of id Multiplayer: Dominate your opponents in DOOM's signature, fast-paced arena-style combat
- Near-Limitless Gameplay: DOOM SnapMap - A powerful, but easy-to-use game and level editor that allows for limitless gameplay experiences on every platform
Important limitations and possible confounds
Adding richer controls also adds more ways to misinterpret the result. A rat may run into a wall repeatedly, pull the lever indiscriminately, or learn that a particular area of the apparatus produces water without learning anything about the virtual scene.
Other variables include ball-tracking latency, sensor drift, display calibration, individual temperament, age, motivation and prior conditioning. A short training period may produce behavior that does not generalize. The physical enclosure may also influence posture and movement in ways that matter when comparing animals or sessions.
A curved display introduces its own trade-offs. It may provide broader visual coverage, but it also requires careful geometry and calibration and can create additional reflections or stimuli. A simpler flat screen may be less visually comprehensive but easier to standardize.
Finally, open-source hardware improves the possibility of replication but does not guarantee it. Reproducing the result would require the exact display geometry, sensor calibration, software build, reward timing, training schedule, animal-handling procedures and appropriate welfare oversight. “Open source” does not mean that the apparatus is a turnkey kit.
Was this invasive neuroscience?
No. The reported 2025 apparatus uses external motion sensing, a display, mechanical controls, air-puff feedback and reward delivery. No neural implants or brain chips were involved in the described setup.
The project’s broader conceptual background includes discussion of neural interfaces and rodent virtual reality, but that background should not be confused with the hardware used for this demonstration. There is no basis in the available reporting for saying that the system records or decodes the rats’ brain activity.
The bottom line on rats shooting Doom
Rats can now navigate a Doom II-derived environment and operate a firing lever in a custom curved-display apparatus. That is a real and technically interesting update to the Rats Play Doom project.
Crashes, No Sound, or Screen Glitches?
Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePC Slower Than It Used to Be?
A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11But the careful interpretation is narrower: the animals learned physical actions that control a virtual system. The reported results do not show human-like understanding of Doom, strategic aiming, deliberate demon hunting or completed generalized gameplay. The compelling story is not that rats have become gamers. It is that a relatively compact behavioral interface can turn animal movement and conditioning into measurable interaction with a programmable virtual world.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
