Videos by ComicBook.com
Hackaday revealed on December 7, 2025, that a brand-new FPS has made its way onto, of all things, the ZX Spectrum. The game is called World of Spells, and Jakub Trznadel developed it for the system, which was released in North America all the way back in 1983. While it’s not as well-known today as other 8-bit systems of the era, the ZX Spectrum was nonetheless a popular and prominent console during the earliest days of personal computers and home video game systems. Still, it’s unusual for anyone to program a new game for a system that was discontinued in 1985.
World of Spells Is the First FPS on the ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum came and went, selling quite well in the United Kingdom, where it was developed. As a result, it’s not as well-known in the United States, but it still has plenty of fans. This is apparent, as it’s no easy task to code an FPS on a system with limited capabilities restricted to hardware from the early 1980s. World of Spells shows clear inspiration from Wolfenstein 3D, as it employs the same 3D raycasting techniques to create its world. The engine Jakub used can reach up to 80 frames per second, which is impressive given the system’s capabilities.
The game itself is fully fleshed out, as shown in its launch video above. The video shows the gameplay, and while it looks dated by today’s standards, it’s nonetheless a technical achievement that would likely have elevated the ZX Spectrum had it been officially released decades earlier. World of Spells was coded for the system’s hardware, but you don’t need one if you’d like to play it, as it works just as well on a modern emulator. That’s good, seeing as working ZX Spectrums don’t come along as often as something like an Atari 2600.
