PacmanNavigate a maze as the iconic yellow Pac-Man, eat all 240 dots, and outmaneuver four ghosts with distinct behaviors in this timeless 1980 arcade classic.
Pacman
Pac-Man is the 1980 Namco arcade classic that became one of the most recognized games ever made. You control a yellow, circular character navigating a fixed maze, eating every one of the 240 dots on the board to clear the level. What sounds simple gets complicated fast: four colored ghosts are hunting you, each one wired differently, and learning to read their patterns — or use them against each other — is where the real game lives.
Each ghost follows its own logic. Blinky (red) tracks you directly, so moving predictably makes him easy to exploit. Pinky targets the space four tiles ahead of you. Inky’s behavior combines your position and Blinky’s, making him the hardest to predict. Clyde wanders freely until he gets close, then retreats — more useful as a hazard to route around than an enemy to outwit. In each corner of the maze sit Power Pellets: eat one and the ghosts turn blue and edible for a few seconds. The point value doubles for each ghost you eat in sequence (200 → 400 → 800 → 1600), so the window is brief and timing matters.
Controls
- Arrow keys — move Pac-Man up, down, left, or right
On mobile and tablet: tap the on-screen directional pad to navigate the maze.
Tips that actually help
- Use the side tunnels. The horizontal passages on either side of the maze briefly remove you from ghost tracking. Ghosts slow down inside them; Pac-Man does not — good for shaking a close pursuer.
- Plan your Power Pellet route before you bite it. Know which ghosts are clustered together, then eat the pellet and sweep through them in sequence to maximize the score multiplier. A solo ghost gives 200 points; all four in a row gives 3,000.
- Clear the area near the ghost house early. The dots packed around the ghost spawn are the most dangerous to collect later. Get them on your first pass before the ghosts spread out.
- Watch for the fruit. A cherry or strawberry appears twice per level just below the ghost house. It only takes a moment to grab and the point bonus scales up with each level — worth a quick detour if the path is clear.