Online Pacman Game

Run status

{{ started ? (paused ? 'Paused' : 'Live') : (gameOver ? 'Run complete' : 'Ready') }}

{{ modeLabel }} / {{ difficultyLabel }} · best {{ formatNumber(bestScore) }}

Score {{ formatNumber(score) }} Lives {{ lives }} Level {{ level }}

Pac-Man

Choose a difficulty, then clear the maze before the patrols close in.

Difficulty

Maze mode

Cut corners by pressing the next turn early. Use swipes, arrows, or the touch pad, and save corner power pellets for packed patrols.

Controls

← ↑ ↓ →

move

W A S D

move alternate

P Space

pause

restart

fullscreen

mute

Paused

Press P or tap Resume to continue.

Final Score {{ endScoreValue }}

{{ row.label }} {{ row.value }}

Grid Sound

Metric	Value	Copy
{{ row.label }}	{{ row.value }}

Time	Event	Value	Detail	Copy
{{ row.time }}	{{ row.event }}	{{ row.value }}	{{ row.detail }}

When	Score	Profile	Pellets	Chain	Result	Copy
{{ row.when }}	{{ row.score }}	{{ row.profile }}	{{ row.pellets }}	{{ row.chain }}	{{ row.result }}

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Sandbox tokens

A maze chase is a game of shrinking choices. Every pellet removed marks progress, but it also changes which corridors are worth entering later. The safest route is often the one that keeps an exit open, not the one that reaches the nearest dot first.

Pac-Man made that pressure familiar in 1980 with a fixed maze, four pursuers, ordinary pellets, corner power items, fruit bonuses, and level clears. The appeal comes from a simple tension: food must be collected, but the path to food can become a trap. A turn made two corridors ago can decide whether a power pellet becomes a rescue, a score chain, or a wasted escape.

Lane order matters. Clearing a quiet section too early can leave no useful dots to follow when patrols crowd the center.
Power timing matters. A corner item is worth more when several patrols are already close enough to capture during the short safe window.
Tunnels change pressure. A wraparound passage can reset spacing, but it also commits the route before the far side is visible.
Score needs context. A short run with one strong chain can look better than a steadier run that controlled more of the maze.

Maze route diagram with pellets, a power corner, tunnel exit, and patrol pressure

A useful run record separates route control from point bursts. Pellet progress shows how much of the board was actually solved, chain length shows whether power windows were timed well, and lost lives show how repeatable the route was under pressure.

Scores from maze-chase variants should be read against the exact maze, timing, power duration, fruit value, and difficulty rules in use. They are good practice feedback, but they are not official arcade records.

How to Use This Tool:

Set the run rules first, then play until the game records a completed attempt. Keep the same difficulty and maze mode when you want scores to be comparable.

Choose Easy, Normal, or Hard. Easy gives 4 starting lives and the longest power window, while Hard keeps 3 lives, shortens power time, and raises score value.
Choose Classic maze, Rush chain, or Practice maze. Classic is the baseline. Rush speeds patrol pressure and improves chain and fruit value. Practice lowers pressure and scoring for route study.
Press Start. Confirm that the status bar is showing Score, Best, Lives, Level, Mode, Patrols, Power, Time, and pellet progress.
Move with arrow keys, WASD, the touch pad, or a pointer drag inside the maze. If keyboard movement stops, click or tap the playfield once so the next turn is captured.
Turn on Grid when you are drilling corner timing. Use Sound when audio cues help, and use P or Space to pause before an interruption.
Check the Power timer before chasing a patrol. A countdown means contact can score; -- means contact is dangerous again.
When the attempt ends, use Run Summary, Event Ledger, Run History, and JSON to confirm the final score, clear rate, chain count, and end reason. A maze clear starts the next level instead of saving a final summary by itself.

A good first review compares Pellets cleared, Lives lost, and Best power chain before chasing a higher Final score.

Interpreting Results:

Final score is meaningful only with the setup beside it. Difficulty, Mode, and Level reached change both danger and point value, so the fairest progress check compares runs with the same rule choices.

Pellets cleared is the main route-control signal. Best power chain shows whether power windows became captures, Fruit bonus shows whether the center was safe at the right moment, and Score pace separates a sustained run from a short point burst.

Clear rate compares all collected pellets with the target for the level reached. It can fall after a clear because the next level adds another full target.
Extra lives earned records the one extra life awarded after crossing 10,000 points.
Event Ledger separates pellet points, power pellets, patrol captures, fruit, extra life events, maze clears, and the run finish.
Profile best compares scores within the same mode and difficulty in the current browser profile.

A high chain does not prove a clean run by itself. Check whether Pellets cleared, Lives lost, and Run time support the same conclusion before calling the route better.

Technical Details:

The maze is a tile system, not an open arena. The board has 21 columns and 23 rows, with a wraparound tunnel across the middle. After the start areas are excluded, each level contains 225 regular pellets and 4 power pellets, so one full clear requires 229 pickups.

Patrol pressure comes from target choice and timing. Chasers decide at tile centers, usually avoid direct reversals, and alternate between scatter and chase periods. Their target styles are deliberately different: direct chase, ahead-of-player ambush, distance-based retreat, and side flanking. Power pellets briefly reverse the risk, slow the patrols, and reset the capture chain for that power period.

Formula Core

Most score events begin with a base value, then apply the selected difficulty and maze-mode multipliers. Patrol captures use a rising base value within one power period. Clear rate is a separate progress measure, based on pickups collected against the cumulative target for the level reached.

\begin{array}{lcl} S_{event} & = & round (B \times D \times M) \\ B_{chain} & = & 200 \times 2^{\min (3, c - 1)} \\ R_{clear} & = & \frac{P_{collected}}{P_{target}} \times 100 % \\ S_{pace} & = & round (S / T) per minute \end{array}

Pac-Man style score variables and base values
Symbol or event	Value	Meaning
`B`	Base points	10 for a regular pellet, 50 for a power pellet, 600 on the first maze clear, then 100 more base points per level.
`D`	0.85, 1.00, or 1.35	Difficulty score multiplier for Easy, Normal, or Hard.
`M`	0.80, 1.00, or 1.18	Mode score multiplier for Practice, Classic, or Rush.
`c`	1 and up	Capture number within one power period. Base chain points are 200, 400, 800, then 1,600.
`T`	Run minutes	Used for `Score pace`, with very short runs protected from divide-by-zero display problems.

For example, the third patrol capture in one power period has an 800-point base value. On Hard in Rush chain, that event is rounded from 800 x 1.35 x 1.18, which adds 1,274 points before any later events.

Timing And Mode Rules

Pac-Man style difficulty and mode effects
Choice	Scoring and timing	Practical consequence
Easy	4 starting lives, 8.6-second power timer, 0.85 score multiplier.	Best for learning lanes, corner timing, and recovery routes.
Normal	3 starting lives, 7.2-second power timer, 1.00 score multiplier.	Best baseline for repeatable practice comparisons.
Hard	3 starting lives, 5.6-second power timer, 1.35 score multiplier.	Higher point potential with less time to recover from bad turns.
Classic maze	Standard score, patrol, and fruit scaling.	Use it when you want the clearest baseline run.
Rush chain	1.18 score multiplier, 1.12 patrol speed scale, 1.20 fruit value scale.	Good for chain practice, but not comparable with Classic scores.
Practice maze	0.80 score multiplier, 0.78 patrol speed scale, 0.85 fruit value scale.	Useful for route study before chasing a higher score.

Patrol And Level Rules

Patrol phase and level behavior rules
Rule	Detail	What to watch
Phase cycle	Patrols alternate through scatter and chase periods before a long chase period.	The `Patrols` chip shows whether pressure is currently easing or tightening.
Power period	Power pellets reverse patrol direction, slow patrols, and reset the current chain count.	Use the `Power` countdown to avoid chasing after the window has ended.
Fruit timing	Fruit can appear near the center after roughly 36% and 72% of the level has been cleared, then lasts 12 seconds.	A fruit pickup is safest when the center lanes are already under control.
Extra life	One extra life is awarded when the score first crosses 10,000 points.	`Extra lives earned` should be 0 or 1 for a recorded run.
Level speed	Player and patrol speeds rise gradually after each maze clear, with patrol mode scaling applied on top.	Later levels punish late turns even when the maze shape is unchanged.

Final score, Pellets cleared, Clear rate, Patrols eaten, Power pellets, Best power chain, Lives lost, Fruit bonus, Run time, and Score pace describe different parts of the same run. The strongest comparisons keep setup fixed, then look for more pellet progress with fewer lost lives or better chain timing.

Limitations:

This is a Pac-Man-style practice game with its own maze, timing, scoring, and run summaries. It is not an exact arcade emulation and does not produce official competitive scores.

Saved best scores and run history belong to the current browser profile and may disappear if site data is cleared.
Score comparisons are strongest only when Difficulty and Mode match.
Copied tables, downloads, and JSON describe local practice runs only.
Game outcomes, scores, and exported records have no monetary value.

Worked Examples:

Long Route, Small Chain

A Normal Classic maze run ends with Final score 4,820, Pellets cleared 207/229, Best power chain x1, Lives lost 3, and Result Caught by patrol. The useful lesson is lane order. The player reached most of the board, but power periods did not become safe captures.

Checking A Rush Chain

In Hard Rush chain, three patrol captures inside one power period use base chain values of 200, 400, and 800 before the Hard and Rush multipliers. The summary should show Patrols eaten increasing by 3 and Best power chain as x3. The run is only better if Pellets cleared and Lives lost improve too.

One-Time Extra Life

A long Classic run that crosses 10,000 points should show Extra lives earned as 1. If the final score later reaches 17,000, the extra-life count still stays at 1 because the award does not repeat.

Short Hard Collapse

A Hard run with Pellets cleared 44/229, Patrols eaten 0, Best power chain x0, and Run time 0:36 points to late turns. Turn on Grid, queue corners earlier, and practice one opening route before trying to force fruit or patrol captures.

FAQ:

Is this an exact Pac-Man arcade emulation?

No. It uses Pac-Man-style maze-chase ideas, but the maze size, patrol targeting, difficulty settings, mode multipliers, fruit timing, and run summaries are specific to this game.

Why did no run summary appear after I cleared the maze?

Clearing all 229 pellets advances the next level. The recorded Run Summary appears after the run ends, usually when all lives are lost.

Why did a power pellet not keep me safe?

Power is temporary. Check the Power timer before chasing a patrol; when it returns to --, contact is dangerous again.

Why are Easy and Hard scores hard to compare?

Difficulty changes starting lives, power duration, patrol speed pressure, and score multiplier. Compare runs with the same Difficulty and Mode when you want a fair practice record.

Where are best scores and history saved?

They are saved in the current browser profile. Another device, another browser, private browsing, or cleared site data may show different history.

Do scores or downloads have monetary value?

No. Scores, history rows, copied tables, downloads, and JSON are entertainment and practice records only.

Glossary:

Pellet: A small maze item collected for progress and score.
Power pellet: A large corner item that temporarily makes patrols vulnerable.
Patrol: A ghost-like chaser whose target choice affects how it approaches the player.
Frightened: The temporary patrol state during a power period.
Best power chain: The largest number of patrol captures made within one power period.
Clear rate: The share of the current pellet target collected during the run.
Profile best: The saved best score for the current mode and difficulty in this browser profile.

References:

PAC-MAN Series, Bandai Namco Studios Inc., 2018.
Pac-Man, Encyclopaedia Britannica.
The Pac-Man Dossier, Jamey Pittman.