The mechanics of this game couldn’t be simpler, but at the same time, it couldn’t be more addictive. We control a character who moves inside a maze and we must eat all the “pellets” which is the name for the white dots.
During the game we are chased by Blink, Pinky, Inky and Clyde, four ghosts who want to catch us. We pass the level once we have eaten all the pellets without being caught by the ghosts. Note that there are four “power pellets” that, when ingested by Pac-Man, make the ghosts vulnerable and give us the opportunity to eat them and earn more points.
What does Pac-Man and a pizza have to do with it?
Toru Iwatanicreator of the game, was looking to develop something that could compete against Space Invaders, the arcade game of the moment. The idea was to make a game accessible and attractive to all types of audiences, especially female audiences. You should know that arcade games used to be violent and did not interest women back then.
Iwatani has on several occasions recognized that the idea of Pac-Man character it occurred to him eating a pizza. He says that when he removed the first portion, he saw the circle that remained and that it reminded him of an open mouth. This was how he was inspired by the character, making the concept easy to understand and visually distinctive.
It is not the only aspect in which food has a clear influence with respect to the game. Iwanati recognizes that the act of eating is something universal, and can attract female audiences as well as males. The concept of “eating” led him to design the objective of the game: move through a maze and eat all the points (pellets).
The idea was simple and fit well with the “ghosts.” The objective of these is always to try to prevent “Pac-Man” from carrying out the task of eating all the pellets on the map.
His idea of developing a non-violent game, attractive to all audiences, already had all the elements. Little did I know that this simple game, without shooting and explosions, was going to be one of the most important in history.
Although food plays a crucial role in the game, there are other cultural elements within it. He highlights that one of his ideas was to evoke the fear of ghosts (deeply rooted in Japanese folklore) as an obstacle for the user.
Something he took into account was that these ghosts should not be scary, quite the opposite. I had to create antagonists that were nice and light, that fit the idea of the game. He achieved this by caricaturing the ghosts and making them “friendly.”
Iwatani thought women would like the factor of something as mundane as in-game eating. Something that was like that and managed to generate a great arcade success that lasts to this day.
