Pac-Man

Pac-Man is an action game originally developed by Namco for arcades and later ported to numerous home computers and game consoles. It is among the most famous games of all time and is also one of the highest grossing arcade games of all time. Pac-Man successfully created what was at the time a new genre of game, the maze chase, and is one of the first games to appeal to people of all genders. Due to its success, Pac-Man has spawned numerous sequels and spin-offs, including Ms. Pac-Man and Super Pac-Man.

Players control Pac-Man in a maze with the goal of eating all of the dots on the screen. Wandering around the maze are four ghosts which are trying to catch Pac-Man. If caught, a life is lost and the game ends when the player has no more remaining lives. Near each corner of the maze is a flashing power pellet; when Pac-Man eats one of these, the ghosts temporarily turn to a dark blue color and can be eaten by Pac-Man. When eaten, the ghosts eyes return to the center of the maze where they regenerate. The amount of time the ghosts remain blue decreases as the player progresses through the levels eventually reaching a point where they do not become edible at all. The movement of the ghosts isn't quite random; each ghost follows a slightly different set of rules to give them a unique personality. In addition to the power pellets, Pac-Man has one additional way of avoiding the ghosts; on each side of the maze is a warp tunnel that wraps around to the other side. Pac-Man is able to travel through the tunnel at full speed, but when ghosts travel through it they slow down providing an opportunity for Pac-Man to escape.

Points are earned in the game by eating dots, power pellets, and the ghosts. When eating ghosts, each ghost increases in point value until all four ghosts are eaten or another power pellet is eaten which will reset the point amount. Additionally, a fruit would occasionally appear in the middle of the maze which provided bonus points when eaten.