Play Pac-Man Online Free

About Pac-Man

Pac-Man is the maze game that turned arcades from shooting galleries into something everyone played. Namco released it in 1980, designed by Toru Iwatani, and the rules have not needed changing since: clear every dot in the maze while four ghosts hunt you, and use the four power pellets in the corners to turn the tables for a few seconds.

This page runs a faithful browser remake — the same maze, the same 240 dots, the same ghost personalities — with keyboard controls and no download. It is the Pac-Man most people mean when they search for it, distinct from Google's 2010 anniversary doodle (which has a Google-logo maze and is on our Google Games hub).

How to play Pac-Man

Move

Arrow keys (or WASD)

Start

Any arrow key

Pause

P, or click away from the game

Touch

Swipe in the direction you want to go

1. Eat all 240 dots on the board to clear the level; the maze resets, faster, with the same layout.
2. The four ghosts leave the centre box one at a time. Red (Blinky) chases you directly, pink (Pinky) aims ahead of you, blue (Inky) is unpredictable, and orange (Clyde) wanders.
3. Eat a power pellet (the large flashing dots in the corners) and the ghosts turn blue for a few seconds — eat them for 200, 400, 800 and 1,600 points before they flash back.
4. Fruit appears under the ghost box twice per level; grab it for a bonus that grows with each level.
5. The tunnels on the left and right edges wrap around the maze — ghosts slow down inside them, you don't.

Pac-Man tips

• Don't take a power pellet until at least two ghosts are close; the points come from eating ghosts, and the blue time shrinks every level.
• Ghosts can't reverse direction on their own except at set moments — if one is right behind you, turn a corner rather than trying to outrun it.
• Pre-turn: press the next direction a moment before the junction and Pac-Man will take the corner at full speed.
• Clear the hard-to-reach dots (the ones tucked beside the ghost box) early, while the ghosts are still slow.

Pac-Man — questions