How much is 5K? "A relative thimbleful of Web coding" writes the New York Times. Many modern computer games consume hundreds of megabytes, a relative dumpsterful of coding.

Wolfenstein 5K was written for the 5K contest, which challenges entrants to create a web page in under 5120 bytes. According to its creators, "The idea behind the contest is that the rigid constraints of designing for the web are what force us to get truly creative."

For me, this contest was a perfect break from the complex, database-driven sites that I routinely develop through my company, Innofinity. The goal for my entry was to make the game not only small, but fun and playable.

Windows XBM Support Removed - 1/11/07

I just discovered that XBM images no longer work in Windows XP SP2. There apparently was a security update that removed support for this image type, and it won't be included in IE7. For the time being, this means that Wolf5K will no longer work, at least in its original form, unless I figure out a way around this restriction. If you have any ideas, please contact me.

Featured on Digg - 8/21/06

Well, it looks like someone stumbled on this site once again... I just saw it on the Digg homepage! Just so you know, this was written in 2003 for the 5K contest, but I haven't updated it since, which should be painfully obvious from the browser list below. Let me know how it works! If you enjoy it, take a look at the Wolf5K Dissected link on the left for more info on how it works, and maybe you can come up with your own variation or improvement on the game. Anyone up for a multi-player Ajax version? If you can cram that into 5K, my hat's off to you.

What You Need

On Windows, IE5, IE6, or Mozilla 1.1. On Mac, Netscape 4.77. More details on browser requirements in the FAQ.

Special Thanks