Map Pac-Man is Back!

On April Fool’s Day 2015, a button was added to Google Maps which, when selected, turned the streets of the current map view into a fully functioning game of Pac-Man. Players could navigate the familiar streets, eating dots and avoiding ghosts just as they would in the classic arcade game.

Pac-Man on Map is a tribute to that much-missed April Fool’s Day feature. The game similarly transforms real-world streets into a playable Pac-Man maze, using road data to generate a layout wherever you choose to play.

To get started, simply move the map to your chosen location and click Generate Road Maze. Once the maze has been created, hit Play and use the arrow keys or WASD to guide Pac-Man around the streets, collecting pellets and power pellets while trying to avoid the ghosts. The game also includes scoring and lives, so this isn't just a map-based novelty - it is a fully playable Pac-Man game.

You can search for locations to create your maze and there are also optional preset addresses if you don't want to choose a location yourself. The game includes synthesized arcade-style sound effects that are generated directly in your browser.

OpenStreetMap road data is used to generate the mazes, with the data retrieved through the Overpass API. If the game attracts a large number of players, the Overpass API requests could potentially be throttled, so the game’s ability to generate new mazes may depend on how much traffic it receives.