The Best Google Maps Pac-Man Locations

If you’ve ever wanted to transform the streets of Manhattan into a game of Pac-Man, then here is your chance. As an April Fool’s Day special, and for a limited time only, Google is encouraging users to turn their Google Maps into a Pac-Man game by letting you switch into Pac-Man mode at any point on the map. You literally can pick any real location on the map (as long as there are a few roads, it didn’t let me play Pac-Man on the ocean) and BAM - you’re taken away from whatever useful geographic information you needed and launched into playing a timeless arcade favourite.

While you can take the easy route and just click 'I’m Feeling Lucky’ and Google Maps will take you to one of its generic spots to play - you can also pick a spot manually, which is clearly more challenging. Here are some of my top Pac-Man locations: 

Perth CBD, Australia

Perth is surprisingly fun to play Pac-Man! Our city grid makes it quite easy to escape the nasty ghosts and then our iconic Horse-Shoe Bridge (god bless her inconvenient design) makes everything a little bit cray-cray. Difficulty level 2/5.

 Taj Mahal, India

The symmetrical garden walkways of the Taj Mahal serve as geographically pleasing starting point for beginners and Pac-Man experts alike.

 Tokyo, Japan

 The city of Tokyo is an urban sprawl of winding alleys and unorthodox planning. This geographically ridiculous metropolis can provide millions of challenging Pac-Man locations, and therefore an entire lifetime of unique levels for the hardcore Pac-Man fan. 

John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York

This is hardcore Pac-Man. Not only is this unyielding airport setting incredibly difficult to beat, but the amount of turns to be made in the carpark grid is pretty scandalous. Expect joint pain after this raucous level.

Following the assault of the Internet with April Fool’s jokes from various cheeky brands and attention-seeking celebrities, it’s good to see a tech company making something truly brilliant for that time of year where everyone tries too hard to be funny. Kudos Google for keeping it real and not trying to punk anybody.