Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco, released in 1980. The game was created with the sole intent of getting both men and women to play it. Most games at the time did not cater to women. The character was created by Toru Iwatani, who was inspired by a pizza with one slice removed. Pac-Man is one of the highest-selling and most well-known video games. The franchise has generated over $14 billion and sold more than 43 million units. To this day, Pac-Man is one of the most iconic characters ever created.
Pac-Man Premise
Pac-Man is straightforward and accessible for players of all ages. Players control Pac-Man and must eat all the pellets in the maze to go to the next level while avoiding the ghost. This goes on indefinitely until the player uses up all three lives and gets the game over screen. There are larger pellets near the edges of the screen that, when eaten, will make all the ghosts vulnerable to attacks. If Pac-Man eats them, they will return to their starting cage momentarily before returning to chase the player.
Pac-Man Main Characters
Pac-Man features five characters, Pac-Man, and four ghosts that chase him down. Each ghost has its own personality type, which affects how they chase Pac-Man and move around the maze.
- Pac-Man: Pac-Man is a yellow circle and protagonist of the Pac-Man franchise. He was initially called Puckman due to this hockey puck shape. He has appeared in over 30 games and spin-offs and is the mascot for Bandai Namco Entertainment. His purpose in Pac-Man is to eat all the pellets without dying.
- Blinky: Blinky is the red ghost in Pac-Man. His purpose is to chase down Pac-Man. While moving around the maze, he will chase Pac-Man directly.
- Pinky: Pinky is the pink ghost in Pac-Man. She will move around the maze, trying to cut Pac-Man off and get in front of him.
- Inky: Inky is the blue ghost in Pac-Man. Like Pinky, he will try to cut Pac-Man off and get in front of him while moving around the maze.
- Clyde: Clyde is the orange ghost in Pac-Man. Unlike the other ghosts, Clyde will move randomly around the maze, making him impossible to read. His positions can either help or harm the player.
Pac-Man Titles in the Series
As mentioned, Pac-Man has appeared in a lot of video games. So many, in fact, that a list would show hundreds of games. For this list, we are only focusing on games that are reminiscent of the original arcade game.
- Pac-Man Plus (1982, Arcade)
- Tomy LSI Game Pac-Man (1982, Handheld LCD Game)
- Pac-Man (speed-up chip) (198?, Arcade)
- Pac-Man (Galaxy Games StarPak 2) (1998, Arcade)
- Pac-Man (2002, Sky Digital)
- Namco All-Stars: Pac-Man (2009, PC)
- Pac-Man S (2010, Facebook)
- Pac-Man 256 (Plug & Play) (2012)
- Pac-Man Ticket Mania / Pac-Man Chomp Mania (2013, Arcade)
- Pac-Man + Tournaments (2013, Mobile)
- Pac-Man Award (2015, HTML)
- Moff Pac-Man (2016, Moff Band)
- Pac-Man (GSN) (2016, Mobile)
- Hello Kitty ♥ Pac-Man (2017, multi-platform)
- EME-MAN (2017, Mobile)
- World’s Largest Pac-Man (2017, Arcade)
- Reese’s Pac-Man (2017, HTML)
- Pac-Man Mini (2017, HTML – play online)
- PA-3 × Pac-Man Special Game (2018, HTML – play online)
- Red Bull Pac-Man (2018, Arcade)
- Ideal Life, The Beans You Want Are Here (2020, HTML)
- Sabritas Pac-Man (2020, HTML)
- Pizza Hut Arcade: Pac-Man (2021, Mobile)
- Pac-Man tilt (2021, Handheld LCD Game)
- OnePlus Nord 2 Pac-Man promotional game (2021, HTML)
- Pac-Man Saga Prefecture Ver. (2023, HTML)
Pac-Man Cheat Codes
While there aren’t cheat codes for the original arcade game, there are very few codes for some iterations of Pac-Man. These could help the player but are limited due to the game’s simplicity. There is only one stage to play on, and the objective stays the same every time. While this may be underwhelming, this was a different time in video games with less advanced software. Arcade games were harder so that they would last longer before a player could “win” and it gave companies more money when players died.
Atari 2600
| Cheat | Cheat Code |
|---|---|
| Infinite Lives | Eat one ghost on board 1, 2 ghosts on board 2, 3 ghosts on board 3, and finally 4 on board 4. After you’ve done this, press Up, Down, Up, and die. |
Pac-Man Cheat Code FAQ
Are there cheat codes for Pac-Man?
Yes and no. For the original arcade release, there are no cheat codes for players to use. Some Pac-Man games will have cheat codes, but it’s dependent on which game it is.