You steer a yellow, round character through a maze, eating every dot while four ghosts chase you; a power pellet briefly lets you eat the ghosts instead. Each cleared maze gets a little faster. It is non-violent, easy to learn and aimed at everyone.
Money healthWatchFine if you understand it
Addictive designLow1 of 5 — counts the hooks designed in
Average priceA$8.06average of 4 store prices
Spending ceilingHas a ceilingEverything costs A$10.50
Australian ratingACBGSuitable for a general audience
How it makes money
Watch: fine if you understand it
Pac-Man was a coin-operated arcade game: the money came from a coin for each game, and Wikipedia reports it was the highest-grossing arcade game in Japan in 1980 and in the US in 1981. Today the arcade original is sold again as Arcade Archives PAC-MAN (A$10.50 on Switch, A$10.45 on PlayStation 4), as the older ARCADE GAME SERIES: PAC-MAN (A$5.95 on PlayStation 4, A$5.35 on Xbox One), or as one of 14 games in PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ (A$29.95 to A$30.95). None of these has ads or timers; this entry covers the arcade original and its console re-releases, not mobile versions.
Only in PAC-MAN MUSEUM+: an optional A$1.45 "Bonus Figure Set" of five virtual figures for the collection's arcade room; nothing is sold inside the Arcade Archives release.
Reviewing the PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ collection, which contains the arcade original, the critic found it the most comprehensive Pac-Man round-up yet, despite a weak frame rate and one poor game.
The reviewer of the PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ collection liked the variety of games and mostly solid emulation but noted input lag in places and some real low points.
Scores belong to the outlets that published them; follow the links to read the full reviews. Summaries are ours.
Age ratings & content
What's in it
The rating boards list no content warnings for this game beyond notices such as in-game purchases or online play.
Age ratings judge content (violence, language, gambling themes), summed up in the content labels above. They say little about how hard a game pushes spending — that's what the money badges are for. About rating boards
Safety & parental controls
Who can talk to your child, and what can they buy?
No chat
No contact with strangers
No user-made content
No account needed
No chat or player-made content. Arcade Archives has online high-score rankings (scores only); PAC-MAN MUSEUM+ offers local multiplayer in five of its games. Rated G in Australia.
European Commission fined Bandai Namco €340,000 in January 2021 for geo-blocking PC games; the company acknowledged the infringement and received a 10% reduction for cooperating.
Latest on the record
Workplace
Was reported to have pressured staff to resign through 'expulsion rooms'
