Pac-Man Tag: A How-To Guide

 

Let me start by saying I’m not advocating this game as a particularly good idea. If you’re opposed to heart attacks, broken bones, or bruises, this might not be the activity for you. Okay. This concludes the disclaimer.

My daughter and I both love winter. But when the temps fall into the single digits or the snow is filthy grey slush, it’s best to stay inside. After days of staring at the same walls, the body craves action. Unfortunately, I’ve got a pretty small apartment, so we have to get creative for fun, active games.

The other morning, my daughter suggested we make a Frogger tag game, based on the 80’s arcade game. We talked about it a bit, and decided that Pac-Man actually lent itself to better game play. Moreover, my apartment’s rectangular shape and five basic rooms actually resembled a Pac-Man game board.

If you need a refresher or have never played the arcade game, you can play it for free online.

So, here’s how we adapted it into a real-life game.

Game Materials

To play Pac-Man Tag, you need:

•    Cotton balls (several white and four colored)

•    Helmets (optional)

Yup, that’s it. We started off using a two-sided mask for whoever was playing the role of the Ghost. It was a cute idea and the masks were awesome and easy – a piece of paper and string. We figured whoever was the Ghost would wear the mask pink-side-out while chasing Pac-Man, but would then switch the mask to blue-side-out after Pac-Man grabbed a power pellet. Unfortunately, the switching proved too cumbersome, and the masks severely limited visibility, not a good idea when sprinting around furniture with sharp corners.

So, without the mask, all you need is several white cotton balls for the pac-pellets. Plus, you need four colored cotton balls for the power pellets. You could probably dye or paint these. We had some orange and yellow pom-poms from a previous project, so we used those.

The helmet is optional. We didn’t use one, but use your best judgment.

Game Prep

•    Pac-Man waits in the bathroom. Stretching is highly recommended.

•    The Ghost places the white cotton balls and four power pellets (colored cotton balls or pom-poms) in the various rooms of the dwelling.

•    The pac-pellets must be on the floor in plain sight, spaced fairly evenly apart. No hiding!

•    One power pellet goes in each room.

Game Play

•    Pac-Man gets a four-second headstart.

•    Pac-Man must grab all of the pellets (white cottonballs) and power-pellets (colored balls) to win the game.

•    The Ghost tries to tag Pac-Man.

•    If Pac-Man gets tagged by the Ghost, Pac-Man loses a life and must return to the bathroom. Pac-Man then gets another four-second headstart to try to finish the game.

•    Pac-Man only gets three lives.

•    When Pac-Man grabs a power-pellet, Pac-Man has temporary immunity and can tag the Ghost. This only lasts for four seconds.

Game Over

•    Pac-Man wins upon grabbing all of the pac-pellets and power pellets before being tagged three times.

•    The Ghost wins upon tagging Pac-Man three times.

•    After each game, the roles can be reversed. Alternately gameplay can be made harder by either increasing the number of pac-pellets or decreasing the amount of time for Pac-Man’s headstart/power pellet sessions.

We had a blast playing this game, but be warned: it is vigorous. I do some pretty intense workouts and am in decent shape, but all that sprinting and crouching kicked my butt. After our first attempt, I was panting for breath and my legs were shot. Plus, you’ll have to use your own best judgment about the safety of running within the home.

As well, like all play games, you may need to adjust the rules a bit (especially the time for power pellet tags or headstarts) to make it more fair, depending on the speed and agility of the players.

Game Summary

It’s a great two-player, parent-child game, but I can’t imagine playing it with three players. It’s hard enough with only one ghost!

We had a lot of fun creating this game. Honestly, the process of brainstorming it and figuring it out was probably more fun than the game itself. But I reckon that’s true of many things in life.