RulesPal
Chat
Rulebook
PAC-MAN Game thumbnail

PAC-MAN Game

PAC-MAN Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

  • Object
  • Contents
  • How to Set Up the Game
  • How to Play the Game
  • How to Win the Game

Object

Collect the most white marbles by the end of the game.

Contents

  • 1 gameboard
  • 76 marbles
  • 2 Ghost pawns
  • 4 plastic trays
  • 1 label sheet
  • 2 dice
  • 4 Pac-Man playing pieces (to be assembled)

How to Set Up the Game

  1. Open up the gameboard. Place it on a flat surface so it's accessible to all players. All of the gameboard holes must be cleanly punched out. Do so by using your finger to push out the cardboard remnants from the underside of the board.

  2. How to put Pac-Man playing pieces together: each playing piece is made up of 3 plastic parts of the same color. Carefully break off these pieces... 2 body parts and 1 mouth part from the plastic runner. Here's what the 3 pieces look like after being detached from the runner (see Figure 1).

    A. Now assemble the playing piece as shown in Figure 2. Make sure the grooved holes, the large holes and the hinges of both pieces line up. Then press together, fitting the pegs and Center Pin into their proper holes.

    Do the marble test: be sure your Pac-Man piece can pick up marbles by dropping a marble into its large hole. If the marble does not fall out the grooved hole, the piece is assembled correctly; if the marble falls out, the two body parts must be pressed together again firmly until they can hold a marble inside. Be sure to do the marble test when assembling the other 3 playing pieces.

    B. Attach the mouth part to the assembled body as in Figure 3, making sure the two small tabs of the mouth are inserted into the two small holes of the body.

    C. Assemble the other 3 Pac-Man pieces as above.

  3. Eye labels: attach round eye labels to the 4 Pac-Man pieces and attach oblong eye labels to the 2 Ghost pawns, as shown in Figure 4 (just peel off labels from sheet and apply them to the recessed areas on the pieces.)

  4. Each player chooses a Pac-Man playing piece and places it in its matching color SAFE/HOME space on the gameboard.

  5. Position the two Ghosts in the center of the board on the "Pac-Man" label. This is the Ghosts' starting position.

  6. Carefully break off the 4 square trays from the runners. Give each player a tray that matches the color of his or her Pac-Man playing piece. Trays are placed off the board.

How to Play the Game

  1. Roll the dice. Whoever rolls the highest number plays first followed to the left by the other players.

  2. Basic turn: on your turn, roll both dice. Move your Pac-Man piece the number of holes (not the yellow dots) on the board indicated by the number shown ON ONE DIE. Move a Ghost pawn the number of holes shown ON THE OTHER DIE. It doesn't matter which piece you move first. IMPORTANT: Ghosts belong to all players—their color does not indicate ownership. Players may move either Ghost.

  3. The gameboard paths: when moving your Pac-Man, you must stay on the designated paths. You cannot jump over the blue barriers. You may, however, follow a designated path to go off the board and then come back on the board in a different position all in the same move. These OFF/ON paths are marked by white arrows. For example, exit one of these arrowed areas on a die roll and enter any other arrowed area and continue your move on the rest of your die count. See Figure 5. On a die roll of 3, move Pac-Man 1 space, go off board (Position A) and enter (Position B) to continue 2 more spaces on die count.

    PLEASE NOTE: Ghosts cannot go off the board!

  4. How a Pac-Man moves: as you move your Pac-Man from hole to hole it gobbles up the marbles it lands on. See Figure 6 to see how a Pac-Man swallows a marble.

    IMPORTANT: at the end of your turn, flip over your Pac-Man and shake any gobbled up marbles out of its large top hole into your tray as shown on the package cover. Be sure to note your last position so you do not lose your place.

    Basic rules of movement for a Pac-Man...

How to Win the Game

When all the white marbles are cleared from the board, the game is over. Players count up their gobbled up white marbles in their trays and any that may still be in their Pac-Man piece. Whoever has the most white marbles wins the game. Special yellow marbles do not count for score.

  • Marble placement: place the 72 white marbles into the 72 holes on the board. The 4 yellow marbles are placed in the 4 special holes circled with an orange ring. IMPORTANT: during the game, each hole, whether it has a marble in it or not, counts as one space. The yellow dots on the game path designate the path and do not count as game spaces.

  • A. A Pac-Man must be moved the full number shown on ONE DIE. Each marble or hole counts as one space. PLEASE NOTE: do not count the yellow dots as spaces!

    B. A Pac-Man must be moved in one direction on the path. Of course, it is legal for a Pac-Man to turn corners and move along the designated path in the same turn. IMPORTANT: before moving your Pac-Man, count out your die roll to see if you can move it its full count. If it cannot complete a full move in one direction, it must go another way—if it can! If it cannot complete a full move in any direction, then do not move your Pac-Man on that turn but you still must move a Ghost.

    C. A Pac-Man can be moved through another player's SAFE/HOME space but it cannot land on such a space.

    D. A Pac-Man cannot cross a blue barrier.

    E. Blocking: a Pac-Man cannot jump over or land on another Pac-Man or a Ghost. If you can move your Pac-Man or a Ghost into an opponent's path to block the way, you can force him or her to move in another direction. EXCEPTION: your Pac-Man can land on a Ghost if you have the Ghost Gobbler Privilege. See Rule 6.

    F. A Pac-Man can go off the board... exit a white arrowed area and enter another white arrowed area on the same move. See Rule 3 for details.

    G. Special yellow marbles: if your Pac-Man gobbles up a yellow marble, it is rewarded with the Ghost Gobbler Privilege. See Rule 6 for details.

  • How a Ghost moves: move a Ghost of your choice trying to land it on another player so you can penalize that opponent and take away treasured marbles from him or her. Remember, no one owns the Ghosts.

    A. A Ghost must be moved the full number of holes or marbles (not yellow dots) shown ON ONE DIE unless it lands on a Pac-Man. A Ghost does NOT have to land on a Pac-Man by exact count, but such a "land on" ends the Ghost's move even if there are more moves on the die roll.

    B. When a Ghost lands on a Pac-Man, that Pac-Man is penalized and must return to its SAFE/HOME space. Whoever moved the Ghost on an opponent's Pac-Man is then rewarded... the landed-on player must give the Ghost-Mover two of his or her marbles. PLEASE NOTE: a player may move a Ghost onto his or her own Pac-Man to return it to SAFE/HOME. In this case, of course, no marbles are transferred.

    C. A Ghost cannot jump over another Ghost on the path. A Ghost cannot jump over one Pac-Man piece to attack another Pac-Man piece. A Ghost cannot go off the board and use the white arrowed areas. A Ghost cannot move through or land on a SAFE/HOME space (a Pac-Man is always safe from a Ghost attack in its SAFE/HOME space.)

  • Ghost Gobbler Privilege: if your Pac-Man gobbles up a special yellow marble, you may use the Ghost Gobbler Privilege which lets your Pac-Man gobble up a Ghost if it meets one along the path. The Ghost Gobbler Privilege is optional so you can use it at any time or not at all.

    How to gobble a Ghost...

    A. On your turn, if you want to use the Ghost Gobbler Privilege, move your Pac-Man onto a Ghost by die roll (exact count is not needed). The Ghost is considered "gobbled" and must be returned to its starting position in the center of the gameboard. The "gobbled" Ghost, of course, remains in play.

    B. Then, place your Pac-Man on the space the Ghost was occupying and your turn to move is over. If your Pac-Man gobbles a Ghost on a space containing a marble, you can gobble up the marble, too!

    C. After using your Ghost Gobbler Privilege by gobbling a Ghost, you must return the yellow marble to any empty orange-ringed hole. If all are occupied, wait until one is empty then place the yellow marble on it.

    D. As a reward for gobbling a Ghost, take TWO marbles from any player.

  • Play until all the white marbles are cleared from the board.