Vietnamese gamer stuns world with gaming skills on classic Nokia phone

"Playing League of Legends on a Nokia phone from 2009 sounds like a joke," German gaming outlet Fragster wrote in its opening paragraph.

Author Jonas Teichmann highlighted the contrast between the popular game and a phone originally designed for business users to manage email, schedules, and communications.

Polish gaming site Gram.pl expressed similar surprise in its headline: 'League of Legends on a Nokia from 2009. Yes, it happened.'

Meanwhile, Serbia’s RUR Esports humorously described the demonstration as 'hard mode activated' while showcasing gameplay featuring Ahri on the old device.

The story began with videos posted on the Facebook account Zu N Zu, which were later shared on Reddit and X. 

According to Czech gaming site Tryhard.cz, the post featured four short gameplay demonstrations with visuals reminiscent of early League of Legends. 

The player controlled the game directly on the Nokia, replacing the conventional computer mouse and keyboard with the phone’s physical keys.

The demonstrations were set on Howling Abyss, the map associated with League of Legends’ ARAM mode. The characters featured included Ahri, Master Yi, Yasuo, and Tristana. 

In addition to movement and ability use, the program displayed an item shop and character statistics, giving viewers several familiar elements of the game.

On Reddit, curiosity quickly turned to jokes. One user commented, “My teammate in ranked mode,” while another echoed the sentiment: “POV: my teammate.” 

Others compared the project to the trend of running Doom on unusual devices, wondering whether this was the next iteration of that challenge.

Much of the appeal lies in the contrast between the game and the seemingly outdated hardware. The Nokia E72 was introduced in 2009 and featured a physical keyboard. 

League of Legends, by contrast, is best known for matches played on computers and the large-scale esports tournaments built around the game.

However, international gaming outlets also questioned what was actually running on the Nokia. Czech site Tryhard.cz explained that it was 'not a port of League of Legends, but more like a Java remake.' 

The site noted that the interface had been adapted and suggested that the demonstrations appeared to feature AI-controlled opponents.

Russia’s Shazoo offered a similar interpretation, describing the project as an 'early-era fan-made recreation.'

The site noted that the videos do not show a complete replica of Riot Games’ title. Recreating its visuals, movements and some functions should be distinguished from running the full game.

Fragster characterized the project as an experiment in bringing a modern gaming experience to old hardware. 

Under this approach, the program would need to be simplified and adapted to the device’s limitations. Its effects, interface and controls would all have to be tailored to the small screen and physical keyboard.

The key achievement, therefore, lies in recreating a familiar gaming experience under significant technical constraints. 

The footage does not establish that the Nokia can participate in online matches on League of Legends’ official servers. 

Fragster also noted that the program’s actual level of completion has not been fully disclosed.

The identity of the creator also requires clarification. 

Gram.pl cited a description by Zu N Zu, which identified the prototype as a project by a developer named Duy Pham. The account posting the videos may not necessarily belong to the person who programmed the game. 

The source provided no further biographical information about the developer.

Amid speculation that the footage was AI-generated, Gram.pl quoted Zu N Zu as saying: “No part of the video uses AI.” This is the uploader’s claim about the demonstration footage, rather than the result of an independent assessment of the program or its development process.

Despite questions that remain unanswered, the demonstration has once again left the international gaming community amazed by the ingenuity of Vietnam’s gaming scene.