An awesome book written in a simple, easy-to-understand manner. I recommend it not only to gamers curious about the history of the legendary id Software but also to anyone interested in the world of gamedev in general.

For me, the book was a nostalgic journey back to childhood. Beyond the wealth of new and inspiring information it provided, it evoked fond memories.
DOOM II was the very first video game I ever played. When I was five or six, my mother took me along to visit her friend. While they were chatting, he sat me down at his computer to play the game. He didn’t explain how to play though, so I spent half an hour in the starting room, fumbling with the keyboard, trying to figure out why I kept dying. By the time I started getting the hang of it, I was pulled away from the computer. But still, DOOM II left an unforgettable impression on me and remains one of my favorite games.

Reading about how the two Johns — Carmack and Romero — met by chance and went on to create video games that revolutionized the industry was both inspiring and bittersweet. It’s a little sad to realize that the romantic era of “garage” gamedev in the 1990s is gone forever. Everything was simpler back then: the games themselves, the developers, and the gamers. It was a different time with different rules. Today, that spirit lives on only in indie developers and small studios.
Between 2017 and 2019, I was part of such a small indie studio myself. And reading about id Software’s early days brought back fond memories of that time and the incredible people I met.

In early 2024, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Doom series, there was a broadcast where Carmack and Romero reunited, years after parting ways. It was heartwarming to see them reminisce about the past and share everyday moments from their time at id Software, as if no time had passed.
Having read the book and learned about their controversial younger selves, it was fascinating to see how both have matured and how their perspectives have evolved.

A big thank you to David Kushner and everyone involved in writing this book.
And an even bigger thank you to id Software for creating my first and favorite video game 😊

Masters of Doom Cover