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Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde finally have a house to haunt
Image: Bandai Name/Goodle via Polygon
The latest Google Doodle is a playable Pac-Man game that puts a spooky-cute spin on the game’s classic arcade aesthetic. Pac-Man himself is donning a pixelated purple witch hat (though he also has other costumes), and his ghostly foes chase him through various Halloween-themed levels decorated with cobwebs, pumpkins, and even a haunted house.
PAC-MAN: Halloween 2025 Edition (which can be played for free here) features eight levels, each more challenging than the last. The game’s standard Power Pellets have been replaced by eyeballs. When Pac-Man eats them, the screen turns purple and black and Pac-Man has a chance to gobble up the ghosts that are chasing him. The Google Doodle features the same sound effects and music as the original Pac-Man game.
Pac-Man: Halloween 2025 edition features a purple color palette and a Halloween aesthetic.Image: Bandai Namco/Google via Polygon
Pac-Man’s movement can be controlled via mouse, trackpad, or arrow keys. Speaking from personal experience, if you attempt to play this on a MacBook or another similar laptop with slimmed-down arrow keys, you’re in for a bad time. But, provided you’re playing on a normal-sized keyboard (or have a mouse handy), this spooky little doodle is a great way to kill a few minutes on your lunch break.
This isn’t Pac-Man’s first Google Doodle rodeo, however. In 2010, Google teamed up with Bandai Namco and created a Google Doodle to celebrate Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary. This was also the first-ever Google Doodle to feature sound and interactivity.
Obviously, this adorable holiday nod to arcade gaming won’t stay on Google’s front page forever. But like all Google Doodles, it will always be available to play via Google’s archive of Doodles, even after spooky season has come to an end.
