DOOMQL

📰 Simon Willison's Blog

Learn how to build a Doom-like game using SQLite and Python, and explore the game's state using Datasette and custom HTML+JavaScript apps

intermediate Published 13 Jul 2026

Action Steps

Clone the DOOMQL repository using Git and run the game using Python
Explore the game's SQLite database using Datasette and the Datasette Apps plugin
Build a custom HTML+JavaScript app to display the game's state using the frame_pixels view
Add a minimap to the app to enhance the game's visualization
Use the app to reflect the current state of the game while playing in the terminal

Who Needs to Know This

Developers and data scientists can benefit from this project, as it showcases the potential of using SQL databases as game engines and demonstrates the use of Datasette for data exploration and visualization

Key Insight

💡 SQLite can be used as a game engine, and Datasette can be used to explore and visualize the game's state in real-time

Key Takeaways

Learn how to build a Doom-like game using SQLite and Python, and explore the game's state using Datasette and custom HTML+JavaScript apps

Full Article

Title: DOOMQL

URL Source: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jul/13/doomql/

Published Time: Mon, 13 Jul 2026 22:35:57 GMT

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13th July 2026 - Link Blog

**[DOOMQL](https://github.com/petergpt/doomql)** ([via](https://twitter.com/petergostev/status/2076692164310884468 "@petergostev")) Peter Gostev built this using GPT-5.6 Sol. This is a _lot_ of fun:

> DOOMQL started with a deliberately unreasonable question: what if SQLite were the game engine, not merely the place where a game stores data?
>
>
> The result is a small, original Doom-like game in which SQL owns movement, collision, enemies, combat, progression and every RGB pixel on screen.

It's implemented as a Python terminal script - I tried it out like this:

```
cd /tmp
git clone https://github.com/petergpt/doomql
cd doomql
uv run host/doomql.py
```

![Image 1: Screenshot of a macOS terminal window titled "doomql — python3.14 ◂ uv run host/doomql.py — 134×31" showing a retro Doom-style game rendered as text-mode pixel art. The scene is a pixelated first-person corridor with gray paneled walls, dark red doors on the far left and right, a floating cyan-and-gold coin pickup on the right side, a white crosshair near the center, and a dark weapon barrel rising from the bottom center. A status bar below the scene reads "HP 100/100 AMMO 037 SCORE 00225 INDEX MISSING TICK 0028450", followed by an orange line "FIND THE INDEX TOKEN" and a cyan controls line "WASD MOVE J/L OR ARROWS TURN SPACE FIRE E USE P PAUSE CTRL-C EXIT".](https://static.simonwillison.net/static/2026/doomql-window.png)

Here's [the huge SQL query](https://github.com/petergpt/doomql/blob/main/sql/003_render.sql) that implements a full ray tracer in SQLite using a recursive CTE.

Running the above script creates a `/tmp/doomql/.doomql/doomql.sqlite` SQLite database, which you can explore using Datasette like this:

```
uvx --prerelease=allow --with datasette-apps datasette \
/tmp/doomql/.doomql/doomql.sqlite \
-p 4444 --root --secret 1 --internal internal.db
```

The `--with datasette-apps` option installs the new [Datasette Apps](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Jun/18/datasette-apps/) plugin, which supports creating custom HTML+JavaScript apps that can run SQL queries directly within the Datasette interface.

I created a new app, pasted the copy-paste prompt into Claude chat (Fable 5) [and told it](https://claude.ai/share/c793280c-2ef1-4555-a7c2-31281abfdf78):

> `Build an app that displays the current state of the screen using the frame_pixels view with its x, y, r, g, b columns. have it refresh once a second.`

This got me a working HTML+JavaScript app inside Datasette that could reflect the current state while I played the game in my terminal. Then I added:

> `add a minimap`

And now my Datasette App looks like this:

![Image 2: Screenshot of a dark-themed web app running a retro Doom-style game rendered from SQL queries. The page header reads "DOOMQL" with buttons "All apps", "Edit app", "Pin", and "Full screen". Inside the game panel, the title "DOOMQL" sits above the subtitle "auto-refreshing once a second · frame and tactical map straight from SQL". The left side shows a pixelated first-person corridor view with gray walls, dark red doors, a floating cyan-and-gold coin pickup, a white crosshair, and a weapon barrel at bottom center. A status bar below reads "HP 100/100 AMMO 037 SCORE 00225 INDEX MISSING TICK 0027847". On the right, a panel titled "TACTICAL MAP" shows a top-down grid map with a player triangle, a red enemy circle, yellow pickup dots, red wall markers, and a green exit square, with a legend reading "yo

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DOOMQL

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