Pac-Man navigates a maze, pursued by four ghosts. Each ghost moves by its own logic. The goal is simple: eat every dot in the maze without being caught. Most of the time you are the one being hunted. But scattered through the maze are power pellets. Eat one, and the tables are turned: for a brief window, the ghosts flee, and the hunter becomes the hunted.

Pac-man is a game of punctuated equilibrium, where you survive by being constantly in motion, making incremental progress, under pressure from forces that won’t stop. The ghosts don’t rest. And the power pellet, when you find it, doesn’t last long. What matters is whether you can recognize the window of opportunity when it arrives, and act before the window closes.

What is pursuing you? By what logic does it move? What would happen if you changed the game?

See Also: Maze, Doom Loop, Tetris, Minefield, Momentum, Gauntlet, Infinite Loop.

2026-008