The most famous circle in gaming

Pac-Man arrived in Japanese arcades in 1980, designed by Toru Iwatani at Namco, who has said the idea came partly from a pizza with a slice missing. The game was simple: guide a hungry yellow circle through a maze, eat every dot and avoid four ghosts, unless you've just eaten a power pellet, in which case the ghosts turn blue and run. Pac-Man became a worldwide phenomenon, one of the most successful arcade games ever made, and its hero became one of the most recognizable characters on Earth.

More than four decades later, Pac-Man is still everywhere, on t-shirts, in museums and on every list of the most important games ever made. A Pac-Man rug brings that arcade joy into your room. Ours are printed into short velvet, so the bright yellow, the blue maze walls and the crisp pixel ghosts come out sharp, and they go in the washing machine.

Pac-Man fever

In the early 1980s, Pac-Man was everywhere. A novelty song about the craze climbed the American charts, a Saturday-morning cartoon followed, and the yellow hero appeared on lunchboxes, cereal boxes and board games. It was one of the first times a video game character became a true pop-culture celebrity. Decades later, Guinness World Records recognized Pac-Man as the most successful coin-operated arcade game.

Pac-Man, as a shaped rug

Pac-Man's shape is the simplest and most famous in gaming: a yellow circle with a wedge-shaped mouth. Cut to that outline through our shaped rugs, a Pac-Man rug is instantly recognizable and genuinely funny, as if he were about to chomp across the floor. It suits a game room, a kid's bedroom or the doorway of a retro arcade corner.

The four ghosts

Pac-Man's ghosts each have a name, a color and a personality, and they chase Pac-Man in different ways:

Ghost	Color	Behavior
Blinky	Red	Chases Pac-Man directly
Pinky	Pink	Tries to get ahead of him
Inky	Cyan	Unpredictable, working with Blinky
Clyde	Orange	Wanders, then retreats

A maze design with all four ghosts makes a fun runner for a hallway or a game room.

A ghost line-up design, the four in a row with their wide eyes, is cheerful, colorful and loved by fans of every age. A single ghost on a round rug, Blinky in red or Pinky in pink, is a cute, simple accent for any room.

The maze

The Pac-Man maze, blue walls on black, rows of white dots, four power pellets in the corners and the ghost house in the middle, is one of the most iconic layouts in gaming. A maze rug is one of the best play rugs there is for children, who can drive toy cars along the corridors or invent their own chase games, and one of the most stylish retro rugs for adults. It reads as a bold, graphic pattern to anyone who hasn't played.

Power pellets and frightened ghosts

When Pac-Man eats a power pellet, the ghosts turn deep blue and flee, flashing white as the effect wears off. That moment of reversal is the heart of the game. A design of frightened blue ghosts scattering, or a single power pellet glowing on black, is a playful nod for fans who remember the thrill of turning the tables.

Bonus fruit

Every level, a bonus item appears below the ghost house: a cherry, a strawberry, an orange, an apple, a melon, then stranger prizes like a spaceship, a bell and a key. The cherry is the most famous. A cherry or fruit-row design is a fun, colorful rug for a kitchen or a game room, and a cute one for a child.

Ms. Pac-Man

Ms. Pac-Man, released in 1982, added a red bow, new mazes, smarter ghosts and moving fruit, and many players consider it even better than the original. A Ms. Pac-Man design, with her bow and lipstick, is a charming retro choice, and a pair of rugs, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, makes a sweet set for a couple's game room.

The sound

Pac-Man's sounds are unforgettable: the opening jingle, the siren of the ghosts, and the "waka waka" of every dot eaten. Few games are so instantly recognizable by ear. A Pac-Man rug in front of an arcade cabinet or a retro console completes the scene, sound and all, and visitors will hear the jingle in their heads the moment they see it.

Patterns and strategy

Because the ghosts follow rules, expert players learned patterns, exact routes through the maze that let them clear a level without being caught, and shared them in books and magazines. Cornering, baiting and timing the power pellets became an art. For a player who knows those routes by heart, a maze rug is more than decoration: it's a map of hundreds of games.

A modern Pac-Man

Pac-Man has never stopped evolving: Pac-Man Championship Edition reinvented the maze with neon speed, Pac-Man 99 pitted ninety-nine players against each other, and in 2010 a playable Pac-Man appeared on Google's homepage for the game's thirtieth anniversary. Pac-Man has even joined the fighters of Super Smash Bros. A neon Championship Edition design is a brighter, more modern take on the classic look.

Level 256

A famous piece of arcade history: Pac-Man was never meant to be played forever, and at level 256 a bug splits the screen in half into a jumble of symbols, making the level impossible to finish. Expert players chase a perfect score of 3,333,360 points, eating every dot, ghost and fruit on every level before the glitch. A split-screen design, half maze and half scrambled symbols, is a clever inside joke for serious arcade fans.

Your own maze

For something truly personal, a maze can spell out a name in dots, or include your own initials as the walls. Our custom rugs print any design in any size up to 5′11″ × 10′, so a child's name, a gamer tag or a family joke can become part of the maze.

Arcade birthdays

Retro arcade parties are a favorite theme for birthdays, with ghost cupcakes, cherry decorations and a high-score challenge. A Pac-Man rug sets the scene for the party and stays as a reminder in the birthday child's room long after the last game.

A home arcade

A Pac-Man rug is the natural floor of a home arcade, in front of a cabinet, a retro console or a pinball machine. Pair it with neon signs, a high-score board and dim lighting. Our arcade rugs, with their classic arcade-carpet patterns, and retro rugs fit the same room.

Kids' rooms and playrooms

Pac-Man's bright colors and friendly ghosts make him a great choice for children, even those who've never seen an arcade. A maze play rug is especially loved. On slippery floors, choose Standard, 5 mm crushed velvet on a non-slip faux leather back, so the rug stays put, and remember every rug goes in the washing machine after spills. Our kids play rugs have more ideas for active play.

Retro and pixel art

Pac-Man belongs to the golden age of arcades alongside games like Space Invaders, Galaga and Donkey Kong, and its pixel art is part of a wider retro aesthetic. A Pac-Man rug pairs well with other 8-bit decor, and with our Mario and Mega Man pages for a classic-gaming room. See our gaming rugs for more.

Colors and rooms

Pac-Man's palette is bright and graphic: sunny yellow, maze blue, black, and the ghosts' red, pink, cyan and orange. It suits a playful, colorful room or a dark retro corner where the colors pop against black. A single yellow Pac-Man on a neutral floor is the most grown-up option, playful without overwhelming a living room or a home office.

Sizes and levels

A shaped Pac-Man, a single ghost or a power pellet suits a 3.3 to 4.6 ft (100 to 140 cm) round or shaped rug. A ghost line-up suits a long 2×3 or 3.3×5 ft rug. A maze suits a larger rectangle, 4×6 or 5×7 ft, perfect for play. For a bedroom, choose Premium, 7 mm plush velvet on a bamboo and cotton back.

Gifts

A Pac-Man rug is a gift that works for everyone: a child, a teenager discovering retro games, a parent who grew up in the arcades or a grandparent who remembers the craze. If you aren't sure which design to choose, the four ghosts or a shaped Pac-Man is the safest choice, recognized by almost anyone, whether or not they have ever stood in front of an arcade cabinet. Every rug is printed to order in 1–3 business days and ships from Turkey; US delivery usually takes 2–5 business days after that.

Care

Machine wash on a gentle, cold cycle and let it air dry flat. Vacuum on a low setting between washes. The design is printed into the fibers, so Pac-Man stays yellow and hungry, and the ghosts keep their colors, for years.

A note on the game

Puck Man

When Toru Iwatani's game launched in Japan in 1980, it was called Puck Man, from the Japanese expression paku-paku, the sound of a mouth opening and closing as it eats. For the American release, the name became Pac-Man, partly out of concern that the original could be too easily vandalized on arcade cabinets. A rug of the yellow hero mid-chomp with a little paku-paku in comic lettering is a fun piece of arcade trivia for any retro fan.

Iwatani has said he wanted a game that would appeal to women as well as men, which is why eating, not shooting, is at its heart.

Padrift is an independent studio. Pac-Man and his ghosts are named to describe what our designs are inspired by; we are not affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Bandai Namco Entertainment.