The Story of Pac-Man: How Namco's 1980 Arcade Hit Became an Icon
Pac-Man, the pizza-inspired yellow hero: the origins of Namco's 1980 maze game, the four ghosts' rules, why it's a classic, and how to play it.
Pac-Man is a maze game made by Japan's Namco and released in arcades in 1980. The rules fit in a single line: a yellow, round hero must eat all the dots in a maze while avoiding four ghosts. Yet it became one of the best-selling games in arcade history.
When it first came out in Japan, it was called "Puck Man." The name comes from "paku paku," a Japanese onomatopoeia for gobbling something up. In this post, we cover the thinking behind Pac-Man, how the ghosts move, why it's still called a classic, and where you can play it today.
At a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| First release | May 22, 1980 (Japan, arcade) / October 1980 (North America) |
| Developer | Namco (designed by Toru Iwatani) |
| Publisher | Namco (Japan), Midway (North America) |
| Platforms | Arcade, later home consoles such as the Atari 2600 and Famicom, plus PC and mobile phones |
| Genre | Maze chase action |
| Records | Over $14 billion in cumulative revenue, 43 million units combined sales (as of 2016) |
Origins
In 1974, Namco acquired Atari's struggling Japanese division and then began making its own games instead of importing and distributing other companies' games. One of the people who joined this development department was Toru Iwatani, then 24 years old. In 1978 he made Namco's first video game, Gee Bee, and also worked on its sequels.
At the time, games such as Space Invaders and Breakout were popular in Japan, and the market was flooded with similar shooting games. Iwatani felt that, because of rough graphics and violent content, arcades were seen as spaces only for men. So for his next game, he aimed for something nonviolent and cheerful that would bring women and couples to arcades as well.
While thinking about things women enjoyed, the theme he chose was "eating." The hero's shape was inspired by a pizza with one slice removed, and Iwatani has also explained that it's a rounded version of the kanji "口" (kuchi), meaning mouth. Development began in early 1979 and took one year and five months, the longest development period at the time. Iwatani completed the game with the help of nine Namco employees, including composer Toshio Kai.
The reason the name was changed to "Pac-Man" in North America is also famous: there were worries that pranksters would change the P in "Puck" to an F to make a profanity.
Gameplay
The player controls Pac-Man and must eat all the dots in an enclosed maze. When all the dots are eaten, you move on to the next round, and between rounds there are short intermissions featuring Pac-Man and the ghosts.
- The four ghosts' personalities: The red Blinky chases Pac-Man directly, while the pink Pinky and the cyan Inky try to get ahead of Pac-Man and block his path. The orange Clyde alternates between chasing and running away depending on his distance from Pac-Man. The rules are simple, but when all four move together, they create pressure that's hard to predict.
- Power pellets: Eating the large dots in the four corners of the maze turns the ghosts blue, and they reverse direction and flee. Eating ghosts at this point gives bonus points, and the points increase the more you eat in a row. An eaten ghost is reduced to just its eyes, returns to the house in the center, and then comes back out.
- Warp tunnels: Tunnels on both sides of the maze let you instantly move to the other side. Ghosts slow down inside the tunnels, making them useful for escaping.
- Bonus fruit: After you eat a certain number of dots, fruit appears below the center and gives extra points.
As the rounds go up, the ghosts get faster and the power pellet effect gets shorter until it eventually disappears. The 256th round can't be cleared because an integer overflow corrupts half the screen; this is called the "kill screen." The theoretical maximum score is 3,333,360 points, achieved by eating every dot, fruit, and ghost through round 255 and then maximizing points with your remaining lives on round 256.
Why It's a Classic
First, it changed thinking about who games are for. At a time when most games were about war or sports, it drew in a wide range of people with a cute, brightly colored character and the act of "eating," and it did in fact become popular with female players. That popularity is also why its sequel, Ms. Pac-Man, featured a female protagonist.
Second, its success was huge. In North America, Midway had such low expectations that it initially made only 5,000 units, but more than 100,000 arcade units sold within a year of release, reaching 400,000 by 1982. Guinness World Records awarded Pac-Man several records, including "most successful coin-operated game," recognizing 293,822 arcade machines installed worldwide as of 2005.
Third, it was one of the first games whose character itself became a brand. In a 2009 Guinness survey, 94% of Americans recognized Pac-Man, higher than Mario (93%). Pac-Man became the mascot representing Namco and today's Bandai Namco Entertainment.
For these reasons, in 2012 Pac-Man was among the first 14 video games acquired by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, and in 2015 it was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame at The Strong National Museum of Play.
Series and Influence
The first sequel was Ms. Pac-Man, developed by America's General Computer Corporation and released by Midway in 1982. It added new mazes, moving bonus items, and faster speed, and sold very well in North America. Namco's own sequels kept coming too, including Super Pac-Man (1982), as well as genre-changing titles such as the side-scrolling action game Pac-Land (1984), the isometric Pac-Mania (1987), and the 3D platformer Pac-Man World (1999).
Pac-Man Championship Edition, released for Xbox 360 in 2007, was the last game Iwatani made before leaving Namco. It was well received for its neon graphics and fast pace, leading to DX (2010) and 2 (2016).
Its influence reached beyond games as well. By 1982, Pac-Man merchandise sales in the US exceeded $1 billion, the song "Pac-Man Fever" became a hit, and a TV animated series was also made. For the 30th anniversary in 2010, Google turned its homepage logo into a playable Pac-Man.
How to Play Today
- Pac-Man Museum+: A collection released on May 27, 2022, for PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It includes 14 games in the series, including the original Pac-Man, along with missions and online leaderboards.
- Official website: You can check the list of Pac-Man games currently on sale on Bandai Namco's official Pac-Man website.
If you're new, learn the four ghosts' movements in the original, then try a fast-paced modern version like the Championship Edition line to compare how differently the same rules can feel.