Pac-Man is a 1980 maze action video game developed and released by Namco for arcades. It is considered one of the classics of the medium, virtually synonymous with video games, and an icon of 1980s popular culture. Players control Pac-Man, who must eat all the dots inside an enclosed maze while avoiding four colored ghosts. Eating large flashing dots called Power Pellets causes the ghosts to temporarily turn blue, allowing Pac-Man to eat them for bonus points.
ArcadeActionSurvivalghostsmascotdeathmazecompilationsteamachievementshidingartificial intelligencepixel arthigh scorehide and seekArcade
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Three questions people argue about. Answer first, then see how your circle and the community split.
Would Pac-Man hit harder if it came out today rather than in 1980?
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Has Pac-Man aged badly?
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Is this Namco's best work?
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Answered from what people have written, never made up: a verdict, how much when it's a matter of degree, and the sentences that say so, quoted with their names. Reviews here first, then TMDB's reviews and the title's Wikipedia plot and reception. If nothing settles it, you can put it to the curators.
Character
Plot-driven, earnest, classical in form and intimate.
- character-ledplot-driven
- earnestironic
- classical in formformally daring
- intimateepic
- sparerichly built
Who loves it, who doesn't
No profiled raters yet.
Reviews
No reviews yet.
About the game
- Platforms
- Arcade
- Developer
- Namco
- Publisher
- Midway Manufacturing, Namco
- Released
- May 22, 1980
- Modes
- Single player
- Perspective
- Bird view / Isometric
- Time to beat
- 1 h rushed · 1 h main story · 1 h completionist
IGDB rating 7.9/10 from 267 ratings.
Screenshots
Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Curator Co. Other media included when they land close.
Galaga 198178% alikeBoth plot-driven, earnest, classical in form.
Hungry Horace 198277% alikeBoth plot-driven, earnest, classical in form.
Arkanoid 198677% alikeBoth plot-driven, earnest, classical in form.
ZX Spectrum Pac-Man Arcade 202377% alikeBoth plot-driven, earnest, classical in form.
World Karate Championship 198577% alikeBoth plot-driven, earnest, classical in form.
Both plot-driven, earnest, classical in form.
Super Monaco GP 198976% alikeBoth plot-driven, earnest, classical in form.
Yie Ar Kung-Fu 198476% alikeBoth plot-driven, earnest, classical in form.
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death 194358% alikeFilm · Both classical in form, earnest, resolved.
Dead Man's Folly 198657% alikeFilm · Both classical in form, intimate, earnest; this one is more raw.
Often played with
Similar games per IGDB. Opening one adds it to Curator Co.
