PDFGameBuilder: A Reusable Game Engine for Executable PDF Documents
Resumo
Digital games are typically distributed as standalone applications or web-based systems, while PDF documents remain largely static despite supporting programmable features defined by the ISO 32000-2:2020 standard. This work presents PDFGameBuilder, a reusable game engine that explores the feasibility of using PDF documents as execution platforms for digital games. The proposed architecture separates document generation, implemented in Python, from runtime execution through embedded JavaScript, providing reusable abstractions for rendering, event handling, asset management, and game loop execution. The engine was validated through proof-of-concept games and evaluated in terms of software reuse, code quality, runtime performance, and cross-platform portability. The results demonstrate that interactive games can be encapsulated within a single PDF document and executed consistently in Chromium-based PDF viewers, establishing PDF documents as reusable, lightweight, and portable platforms for interactive applications.
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