PAC-MAN 30th Anniversary: Play PAC-MAN on Google Homepage

San Francisco (GaeaTimes.com) PAC-MAN was first released on May 22, 1980 in Japan which makes today the 30th Anniversary of the original PAC-MAN game. To celebrate this day Google has come up with an impressive idea of making its homepage a playground for the PAC-MAN lovers around the world. We have seen many Google Logos to celebrate memorable people, events and holidays, (which they call the Google Doodle, by the way) but this is the first time they have come up with such an interactive doodle with the privilege of playing the PAC-MAN on its homepage.

If you are too eager to play right now, just visit the Google homepage and click on the Insert Coin Button which usually says I’m feeling lucky. If you don’t do anything, the game will start anyway. The game is a full 255 level game with a 256th level kill screen just like the original one. There is also a two player version of the game that can be activated by clicking on the Insert Coin Button twice. With Ms PAC-MAN joining the game, the 2nd person can control it with the WASD keys.

The extraordinary idea came from the senior user experience designer Marcin Wichary. He had his exposure to PAC-MAN from the age of five. His father was a game technician and repaired arcade machines. He worked with the Google Doodle maker Ryan Germick for the final design.

Wichary says,

Pac-Man seems like a natural fit for the Google homepage. They’re both deceptively straightforward, carefully hiding their complexity under the hood. There’s a light-hearted, human touch to both of them. And we can only hope you find using Google at least a quarter as enjoyable as eating dots and chasing ghosts. You know, without actually needing any quarters.