''Pac-Man 256'' is a 2015

endless runner Endless runner or infinite runner is a subgenre of platform game in which the player character runs for an infinite amount of time while avoiding obstacles. The player's objective is to reach a high score by surviving for as long as possible. Th ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by

Hipster Whale Hipster Whale is an Australian Independent video game development, independent video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher founded on 20 November 2014 by Andy Sum and Matt Hall, shortly before making the game ''Crossy Road''. The co ...

, 3 Sprockets and Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver, and published by

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

. The game is part of the ''Pac-Man'' series and is inspired by the original ''

Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...

'' game's infamous Level 256 glitch, as well as Hipster Whale's own game ''

Crossy Road ''Crossy Road'' is an action game released on November 20, 2014. It was developed and published on iOS by Australian video game developer Hipster Whale and originally yodo1 on Android. The name and concept of the game play on the riddle joke " ...

'', which previously featured a Pac-Man mode. Crossy Road, a popular game made by Hipster Whale was an important role in the making for Pac-Man 256. The game was originally released for iOS and Android devices on August 19, 2015 in commendation of Pac-Man's 35th anniversary. An enhanced version, ''Pac-Man 256+'', was released for the

Apple Arcade Apple Arcade is a video game subscription service offered by Apple Inc. It is available through a dedicated tab of the App Store on devices running iOS 13, visionOS, tvOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina or later. The service launched o ...

subscription service for

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macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

and

Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...

Gameplay

''Pac-Man 256'' sees the players take control of

as he continues across an endless maze, collecting dots and power-ups while avoiding enemy ghosts. The game ends if Pac-Man comes into contact with a ghost or falls behind and is consumed by a chasing glitch at the bottom of the maze. Eating 256 dots in a row awards the player a blast that clears all on-screen enemies. Along with power pellets, which enable Pac-Man to eat ghosts, Pac-Man can equip and obtain various power-ups such as lasers, tornadoes, and clones to attack the ghosts, as well as collect score-multiplying fruit. Up to three power-ups can be equipped. Power-ups are unlocked by waiting 24 hours after unlocking a power-up. In the console and PC versions, they are unlocked by eating a specified number of Pac-Dots. Prior to version 2.0, the game featured a "credit" system, which would require one credit to be used if a game was played with power-ups equipped or the player wished to revive Pac-Man. Version 2.0 replaced the Credits with Coins, which are obtained by clearing missions, collecting them on the maze or by viewing sponsored videos, which can be used to upgrade power-ups, unlock themes (in the mobile version), or revive Pac-Man. There are also themes which change the look of the game, that can be purchased with large amounts of Coins or by spending real money. In the console and PC versions, all themes are unlocked by default. The console and PC versions of the game adds an exclusive cooperative multiplayer game mode, where up to four players work together to set the highest score possible. The appearance of each Pac-Man can be customized. Like the main game, the goal is for every player to get as far as possible and contribute to the group score as much as possible. If a player is caught by a ghost, a player power-up appears, which revives that player. The game ends once the last player still in play dies, be it by getting caught by a ghost or consumed by the glitch. Each ghost has their own specific behavior: Blinky (red) actively chases Pac-Man, Pinky (pink) rushes forward whenever Pac-Man enters her sight, Inky (cyan) loops around specific areas, Clyde (orange) travels downwards while changing to Pac-Man's nearest direction, Sue (purple) slowly moves horizontally towards Pac-Man's direction in groups of three, Funky (green) roams around in a horizontal line in groups of four, Spunky (gray) sleeps in a spot, but awakens and chases Pac-Man if he gets near, and a new ghost named Glitchy has the ability to teleport while chasing Pac-Man.

Reception

''Pac-Man 256'' received "generally favorable" reviews according to review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

Ports and re-releases

The game was originally released as a

free-to-play "Free-to-play" ("F2P" or "FtP") video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content for free. The term "free-to-play business model" or simply, "free-to-play model", refers collectively to business models tha ...

title for

and Android on August 20, 2015. On June 21, 2016, Bandai Namco released a version of the game for the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

, and PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), featuring additional features like multiplayer for up to 4 players, a new power-up, and no longer having to wait a certain amount of time to get power-ups, and instead having to eat a number of Pac-Dots. The console version of ''Pac-Man 256'' is included in the compilation title ''

Pac-Man Museum+ ''Pac-Man Museum'' is a 2014 compilation video game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows, developed by Mine Loader Software and published by Bandai Namco Games under the Namco label. It is a compilation of 9 Pac-Man (series), Pac-Man games, w ...

'', released in 2022. It would also mark the first time the game was ported to

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

. ''Pac-Man 256+'', a version of the game exclusive for the

subscription service, was released on December 4, 2024 for iOS, macOS and Apple TV. The game features various alterations to the gameplay, such as new upgrades and altered gameplay mechanics.

Awards

''Pac-Man 256'' was nominated for Best Mobile/Handheld Game at

The Game Awards 2015 The Game Awards 2015 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2015. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley at the Microsoft Theater The Peacock Theater, formerly Nokia Theatre and Microsoft Theater, is a music and theat ...

, but lost to ''

Lara Croft Go ''Lara Croft Go'' is a puzzle video game developed by Square Enix Montreal and published by Square Enix. A spin-off of the ''Tomb Raider'' series. The player moves Lara Croft as a puzzle piece through a board game while avoiding obstacles and m ...

''. It was also nominated for Mobile Game of the Year at the 19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, but was ultimately awarded to ''

Fallout Shelter A fallout shelter is an enclosed space specially designated to protect occupants from radioactive debris or fallout resulting from a nuclear explosion. Many such shelters were constructed as civil defense measures during the Cold War. Durin ...

''.

References

External links