Slice of Life: The Backstory of the Origins of Pac-Man

Sometimes, simplicity is king—especially in gaming, where things can easily get overwhelmingly complex. The most straightforward games often end up being the most enjoyable, and Pac-Man is the quintessential example of this. The core concept is as basic as it gets: a yellow circle gobbles up dots while dodging ghosts. That’s the entire game. Yet, that unassuming yellow character, with nothing more than a mouth and a hunger for pellets, became one of the first true icons of the gaming world.

Since munching his way into arcades in 1980, Pac-Man has transcended his humble origins, evolving into a global pop culture figure. Despite being mechanically simple, the game’s appeal lies in its easy-to-learn, hard-to-master gameplay loop—something that keeps players coming back for “just one more round.” Pac-Man’s success set the standard for what a video game mascot could be, establishing a lasting legacy not just in the arcade era but as a symbol for gaming as a whole. The game’s simplicity turned it into an all-time classic, proving that you don’t need flashy graphics or convoluted mechanics to create something timeless.

Pac-Man’s iconic backstory has become something of a gaming legend. According to Toru Iwatani, the mastermind behind the game, as quoted in Steven L. Kent’s The Ultimate History of Video Games, the genesis of Pac-Man took place in April 1979. Iwatani was on a mission to design “a game for the female gaming fans,” with a core mechanic centered around eating—something he thought would appeal to a broader, less combative audience. The now-famed Pac-Man character, with its distinct round shape, supposedly materialized in Iwatani’s mind during a casual pizza lunch. As the story goes, after removing a single slice, the remaining shape sparked the visual idea for Pac-Man himself.

Toru Iwatani was only 24 years old at the time of its creation. His vision for the game was influenced by a few key elements. One significant inspiration came from the onomatopoeic Japanese phrase “paku paku,” which translates to “chomp chomp,” perfectly capturing the sound of eating. Additionally, Iwatani drew from the kanji character for “taberu,” which means “to eat.” These elements combined to create a character that not only embodies the act of eating but also engages players in a fun and playful way, setting the stage for Pac-Man to become a cultural phenomenon in the gaming world.

However, like many gaming origin stories, this narrative is shrouded in some mystery. Various sources, including earlier interviews with Iwatani, offer conflicting versions of how Pac-Man’s design came to be. Whether this pizza-fueled inspiration is fact or simply a well-spun tale remains debated among retro gamers. What’s clear is that Pac-Man’s creation marked a turning point, not just in arcade games but in the way games appealed to different demographics—especially with its more inviting, approachable design that strayed from the usual shoot-’em-up formula dominating arcades at the time.