About the game
The game that proved a PC could scroll as smoothly as a console. Eight-year-old Billy Blaze puts on a football helmet, becomes Commander Keen and goes after the Vorticons who stole parts of his ship.
The first episode, Marooned on Mars, was shareware. The team that made it later made Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM.
Controls
- Arrows — move
- Ctrl — jump
- Alt — pogo stick
- Ctrl+Alt — fire
- Esc — menu
The version in short
- Year: 1990
- Genre: Platformer
- Size: 0.1 MB, loaded once
- Controls: keyboard, or on-screen buttons on a phone
How this runs
The game runs through a DOS emulator inside your browser: the emulator, the files and your saves all stay on your device and nothing reaches our server. The emulator, the licensing and what to do about a black screen are explained on the retro games section page.
FAQ
Is this the actual 1990 release?
Yes, these are the original Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons files, not a remake or a port. The emulator runs them the way they ran on a machine of that time.
How big is it and what loads?
The game archive is 0.1 MB plus about two megabytes of emulator. It loads once — after that the browser keeps the files cached and the next launch is instant.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. On-screen buttons appear under the screen: a d-pad and actions (Ctrl, Alt, Space, Esc). Presses go straight into the emulator, exactly like a real keyboard.
Are my saves kept?
They are, but only in this browser on this device — they are written inside the emulator. A different browser or a cleared cache means starting over.
