A group of scientists have used smartphone technology to bring the classic Pac-Man on the real-world map. Known as PacMap, the game uses the smartphone's GPS sensors to determine the user's location on OpenStreetMap.
A Classic Reinvented
Since its release in 1980, Pac-Man has been considered one of the most classic and influential video games, becoming a social phenomenon that spawned many products. That's why a group of scientists from the University of the Aegean in Greece reinvented the game by developing a set of tools for an Android version that uses smartphone technology to bring Pac-Man gameplay to real-world maps. Its name is PacMap and it uses the smartphone's GPS sensors to determine the user's location on OpenStreetMap.
The Gameplay
Once the game starts, the Pac-Man figure appears on the street map within two hundred meters of the user's location, along with Pac-dots scattered everywhere. The player then has to run through these streets to collect the Pac-dots and avoid the generated ghosts that also roam the maze looking for the player. The ghosts are divided into two types: the first are ghosts that move randomly across the map, hoping to catch the player by accident. This group calculates the path using standard algorithms.
The second type are the red ghosts, which will go directly in search of the player. In this case, to determine the shortest route to the player, they use commercial map services. The developers say that a modern smartphone can easily handle this type of calculation. For now there is no app for the title; however, it's worth noting that PacMap is not a new game, as several websites claim it was released in 2011 and is no longer available. Not to mention, a few years ago there was the ambitious project by Namco Bandai known as the World's Biggest Pac-Man, where each player could create their own level that is displayed on a giant 'continent' of levels.
PacMap
