The Ghosts of Pac-Man

With continuing my study into game design, this has lead me back in time to a game that encapsulated my childhood, PAC-MAN. Each of these four ghosts has a fun name, that doesn't really fit their character in English, and a specific algorithm that is used to help guide them toward pac man and ruin a players day. Each of these ghosts have a very specific rule set that states where they can move on the game board. Such as, how the ghosts cannot move beyond the boarders of the board. Finally understanding how these ghosts work make me it clear how professional PAC-MAN players can perform so well. These algorithms work to position each ghost in a different position around the character. For example, the red ghost, Blinky, takes the immediate route to chase down pac man. If a player knows this, they can watch for red and always know where he will be going and can plan to avoid him. There is much more to game design than just what the player sees. What is becoming abundantly apparent is that what the player doesn't see, is as important as what the player does see.

http://gameinternals.com/understanding-pac-man-ghost-behavior

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