PAC-MAN: The Card Game
PAC-MAN: The Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Content
Level 1 (2-4 players): PAC-dot x25, cherry x4, strawberry x3, orange x2, apple x1, ghost cards (shown as a stack of three ghost-coloured cards) x3, red ghost x1, a card showing a plain tan circle x3, bell x3, key x3.
Level 2 (2-4 players): PAC-dot x22, cherry x4, strawberry x3, orange x2, apple x1, ghost cards (shown as a stack of four ghost-coloured cards) x4, red ghost x1, a card showing only eyes x3, PAC-MAN x3, ship x3.
The sheet shows the card faces as artwork; the descriptions above are the printed counts with the artwork named as shown.
Setup
To start the game, shuffle the Level 1 deck and place it face down in reach of all players.
Play
The player who does the best impression of PAC-MAN takes the first turn, and then play goes clockwise (so, to the player on the left).
On your turn, you can either draw cards, or shut down until the end of the game. If you choose to draw cards, draw them one at a time, looking at each card individually. Once you have drawn a card and checked it, you need to decide whether to end your turn, keep drawing cards, or shut down. You can draw up to three cards during your turn. After drawing your third card, you have to end your turn or shut down.
PAC-dot or fruit: If you draw a PAC-dot or fruit, keep it secret and put it into your hand. These cards are worth points and will add to your score at the end of the game.
Ghost: If you draw a ghost, keep it secret and put it into your hand. If you ever have three ghosts in your hand, you're knocked out of the game! If you're knocked out, put your hand face up in front of you.
Power up: If you draw a power up, put it face up in front of you and do what it says. Check the Special Rules section to find out more about these effects. Remember: players who have shut down or been knocked out by ghosts can't be affected by power ups.
Shutting down: If you choose to shut down on your turn, put your hand face down in front of you until the end of the game. You can't draw any more cards during this game, and any power ups played can't affect you. You can choose to shut down at any time during your turn, even if you have already drawn cards.
Winning
For the game to end, all players must either shut down or be knocked out by ghosts. There are two ways to win:
Ghost Knockout: If everyone has been knocked out by ghosts except for one player, that player is the winner!
Highest Score: If any player shuts down, the game ends when the rest of the players have either shut down or been knocked out by ghosts. Then it's time for all players who shut down to add up their points! Remember: players who were knocked out by ghosts are out of the game, so their points aren't counted.
Each player who shut down turns their cards over and adds up their points. The player with the highest score wins! If there's a tie, all tied players win!
Special Rules Level 1
The sheet gives each Level 1 power up's effect next to its icon (an up arrow with a ghost, an up and down arrow with cards, or an up arrow with a "no" sign).
- Ghost (up arrow with ghost): Take one ghost from your hand and give it to another player. If you have no ghosts in your hand, just discard this card.
- Swap (up and down arrows with cards): Choose two players (this can include yourself). They swap hands. If you're the only player who hasn't shut down or been knocked out by ghosts, just discard this card.
- Skip (up arrow with "no" sign): Choose one player. They skip their next turn. If there are no other players who haven't shut down or been knocked out by ghosts, just discard this card.
Special Rules Level 2
The sheet gives each Level 2 power up's effect next to its icon.
- Draw choice (up arrow with stacked cards): Choose one player. Choose how many cards that player draws on their next turn (from one to three cards).
- Extra draw (card with a plus sign): Starting with the player that draws this card and going round in normal turn order, all players who haven't shut down or been knocked out by ghosts draw one card from the deck. This extra card doesn't count towards the maximum of three cards that a player can draw during their turn. Any power up cards drawn because of this card should be discarded without resolving their effects.
- Pass (arrow pointing left with card): All players who haven't shut down or been knocked out by ghosts choose one card from their hand and pass it to the person on their left, keeping the card hidden from all other players. Players with no cards in their hand just accept the card from the player to their right and don't pass a card to their left.
Bonus Level: Extra Players!
Combine the Level 1 and Level 2 decks to play a Bonus Level with up to 8 players.
To play the Bonus Level, shuffle the two decks together and place the combined deck face down in reach of all players. Aside from that, all the normal rules apply.
Once you've finished a Bonus Level game, use the Level 1 icon (1) and Level 2 icon (2) to separate the decks out again.