Skip to main content

The World’s Biggest Pac-Man includes user-created levels, runs on HTML5

worlds-biggest-pac-man
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Here’s a brilliant little slice of awesome to start your day with. Pac-Man, one of the world’s most enduringly popular video game characters, is the star of a newly launched HTML5-powered in-browser game, The World’s Biggest Pac-Man. The round, yellow pellet-chomper already has a home at Google, but this new website takes him to another level entirely.

Created by Soap Interactive in conjunction with Microsoft and license-holder Namco Bandai, The World’s Biggest Pac-Man offers hundreds of user-created levels to chomp through along with Facebook integration, all pulled together in an incredibly slick interface that works like the Google Maps of Pac-Man levels. It was launched at Microsoft’s MIX11 developer’s conference to promote the company’s recently released Internet Explorer 9.

For a (sad) laugh, iPad owners that have Atomic Web Browser — levels won’t even load in Mobile Safari — should pick out a level and tap Play For Fun. There are no arrow keys on the Apple tablet’s keyboard and the HTML5 code runs at a crawl, so you can do nothing but watch as Pac-Man is consumed in slow motion by one of the multi-colored ghosts.

In addition to offering actual Pac-Man maps to build and play on, the site also lists a range of stats. How many levels have been created (1,419), how many pellets eaten (20,199,597), how many ghosts (219,893) and more. There’s also a country-by-country breakdown, with Spain currently holding a commanding lead over the United States in the number two spot. Watch your back, Spain. We’re coming for you.

Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
How to get to Monkey Island in Sea of Thieves
An election poster for guybrush in Sea of Thieves.

Over the course of its many years of updates and expansions, Sea of Thieves has had a few notable crossovers with other pirate franchises. The Pirates of the Caribbean crossover let you team up with the legendary Jack Sparrow, but the Monkey Island content felt like it came out of nowhere. For those unaware, Monkey Island is a series of pirate point-and-click games that were as funny as the puzzles were obscure. Thankfully, you don't have to intuit that you need to combine a cat whisker with a mason jar to bypass a skeleton guard to get to this new content, but it is more challenging than you might think.

Read more
3 Xbox Game Pass games you need to play this weekend (May 3-5)
Senua in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

Another weekend is upon us, and you're probably looking for some games to kill time with over the course of it. We're in a bit of a lull right now ahead of a flurry of releases starting next week, so it's a great time to dip back into the Xbox Game Pass catalog and check out some games that you may have missed. There are three games in particular that I think you should check out this weekend if you're looking for something to play.

One is an unsettling adventure that's getting an Xbox-exclusive sequel later this month. The next is a finely animated roguelike indie that recently made its way to Microsoft's gaming subscription service. Finally, there's a relaxing adventure that gives players a lot of freedom, yet is short enough to beat in a weekend. If you're having trouble deciding what to play this weekend, give one of these games a shot.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Read more
3 underrated PS Plus games you should play this weekend (May 3-5)
The main character of Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands with two elemental items.

PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra have been around for almost two years, and during that time the subscription service has established itself as an ample competitor to Xbox Game Pass. That means there is a wealth of great games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners to check out if they're looking for something to play this weekend. I think PS Plus subscribers should be looking toward some of the more underrated games in the subscription service this weekend too.

I have three particular picks in mind. The first is an enjoyable Metroidvania that came to PS Plus' game catalog when it launched just a couple of weeks ago and deserves a lot more attention than it's getting. After that, there's an action-platformer that pays homage to series like Ninja Gaiden that you should check out before it leaves the catalog. Finally, there's a PS2-era Star Wars game that fills the niche a recently canceled game would have.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau

Read more