Pac-Man Overview
Pac-Man is a single-player maze game where a yellow circular character moves through enclosed stages. The primary goal is to consume all the small pellets within a maze while evading four pursuing ghosts. Contact with any ghost costs a life, and the game concludes when no lives remain.
Each ghost exhibits a unique chasing method. The red ghost targets directly, the pink one tries to intercept, the blue ghost's movements are conditionally unpredictable, and the orange ghost switches between pursuit and random wandering. To aid the player, four larger power pellets in the corners temporarily turn the ghosts vulnerable, allowing them to be eaten for points before regenerating. Bonus items like fruits appear for additional score.
The experience is challenging and continuous, with no definitive end. Mazes repeat, but ghost speed and aggression increase. The duration of the power pellet effect decreases over time, eventually ceasing entirely. Brief animated intermissions play periodically, growing more detailed. Originally an arcade release, the game has been reissued under various titles that maintain the core gameplay, sometimes with added options for visuals or online scores.
