Today marks the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man. Well, it’s technically tomorrow May 22, which it is in Japan right now, so we’re going with that since it’s a Japanese game. Anyway, the Google Doodles team wanted to do something special and they certainly delivered.
For the next 48 hours you can play Pac-Man on the homepage of Google across all domains. Don’t worry, it’s going to be archived in the Doodles gallery. The game will automatically start in 10 seconds, but you may notice that the “I’m feeling lucky” button has been replaced with “Insert coin.” Clever. Control Pac-Man with the arrow keys on your keyboard or swipe on your iPhone, iPad or Android device.
(More on Techland: You’ve Got To Play Super Mario Crossover)
A cluster of easter eggs are placed throughout the game. For example, tapping the Insert Coin button introduces Ms. Pac-Man for two-player fun. The W, A, S, D keys control her. If you manage to get to the 256th level, you’ll be greeted with the infamous killscreen. The original cut scenes from Toru Iwatani’s iconic Namco game are also included.
Marcin Wichary and Ryan Germick are the Googlers who spearheaded this particular Doodle. Wichary, a senior user experience designer at Google, built this, the first interactive Doodle, from the ground up in a day after a brainstorming session with Germick and the rest of the Doodles team. As a child, Wichary would tag along with his father in Poland as he went around to repair arcade machines. I was amazed to hear that Wichary built a working prototype in one day this past March. It’s more or less a complete port that was built from scratch, he says.
If you’re still reading this then you’re doing it wrong. Get thee to Google.com for some Pac-Man action!
