Browser as Engine: The Pioneering Wolfenstein 3D HTML5 Experiment

This retrospective reveals how Wolfenstein 3D was brought to browsers in 2012 without a traditional game engine, using only JavaScript, Canvas, and standard web APIs. The project demonstrated that browsers could host complete, immersive gaming experiences long before WebAssembly and modern WebGL became available. Today, as browser gaming is mainstream, this pioneering effort shows how creative constraint and deep platform knowledge can overcome architectural limitations.