How would you describe Pac-Man to someone from 1900?
Last week, I asked you all to submit your best explanations for (what I think is) a fun thought exercise.
Personally, I’m amazed daily by the nuances of the technology and the culture embedded in our everyday lives, and I recently had a thought: How would I explain any of this to people from the past? What words would I use? What would they think?
To make things more specific, I proposed the Pac-Man prompt to you -- here are some of the responses.
Check out our latest prompt: How would you describe catfishing to someone from the ‘60s?
Your submissions
“Pac-Man is a game played on a machine that has a character that you see on a piece of glass. You control the character using a handle on the machine. The character is a circle with a mouth that runs over as many dots on the glass as possible before being caught by a drawing of a ghost.” - Nick
“Hey, you know those new fangled moving picture shows? Well, they now have them in these small cabinets not much bigger than you or me. Some even have these games on them that you can actually play with a device you control with your hands. This one game lets you control this little yellow ball, and ghosts chase you around a maze. You can collect pellets for points, and if you get a big pellet, you can actually eat the ghosts!” - Paul
“Pac-Man is game where you play as a small yellow ball man (or woman if we are speaking of Mrs. Pac-Man) who gorges himself on gold doubloons and fruit, such as cherries, in order to defeat the multi-colored demon ghosts who haunt the maze. At times, witchcraft is given to Mr. Pac-Man through the ingestion of flashing doubloons where it is then he is able to eat the ghosts who haunt the maze. The more doubloons Mr. Pac-Man eats, the higher the score. But you must be careful - the demon ghosts may get you and drag you into the fiery pits below.” - Amber
“A little yellow circle missing a wedge moves around a labyrinth eating as many dots as possible before ghosts chase him down. Some of the dots are special and eating them allows him to eradicate ghosts. Eat all the dots for the win!” - Jen
“Pac-Man is a maze game in which the navigator of the maze is chased by several pursuers all of which are represented with simple drawings on an electrified screen hat creates an electric reproduction of illuminating objects. The movement of the navigator’s image is controlled with telegraph key-like buttons which transmit a signal to the tabulator through a wire or a wireless device using a radio signal. The tabulator stores and executes instructions on how to project the image, how to respond to the buttons, and the current state of the maze. Because the tabulator is electrified rather than geared the changing of the images and the response to the buttons is nearly instantaneous.” - Ada
“I wouldn’t even bother.” - Joe
“Imagine a shadow-puppet character who looked like a pie with a slice removed. You control/move this character in a maze-like labyrinth, with small dots that you’re trying to collect. Your motion is constrained to the up-down-left-right directions to fit within the walls. Meanwhile, other characters shaped like ghosts are actively trying to catch you. They are controlled by a complex machine that uses your character’s location to determine their motion. If the ghosts catch your character, you lose a ‘life.’ Lose three ‘lives’ and the game is over. Collect all the dots in this maze, and the game continues to another one slightly faster, slightly more difficult. Of course, using shadow puppets, the machine to control the ghosts would be immense, but in the future, it will be small enough to fit in your hand.” - Trevor
“I’d begin by using an empty checkerboard, but place pellets on every square. I’d then remove a pellet from the near bottom center and place a black checker there and explain this is Pac-Man (who would be yellow and have a wedge cut out for his mouth so he can eat all the pellets). A few rows up I’d remove four pellets and place four red checkers as the ghosts who want to eat Pac Man. Then, using some straws cut to different lengths, I’d add barriers and corridors to serve as boundaries for them to navigate around.
“Each turn, Pac-Man can move one square and eat a pellet, which earns him some points, but he cannot eat the ghosts. The ghosts can move one square every turn as well and if they catch Pac-Man, you lose one of your three lives. Then I’d replace some of the pellets with larger pellets and explain that these are power pellets. When Pac-Man eats one, the ghosts can be eaten for 10 turns. The goal is for Pac-Man to eat all the regular pellets before the ghosts can eat him. When the board is clear of all regular pellets, a new game board with different boundaries.
“But Pac-Man isn’t a board game. It is an animation (they had many examples of simple animation in 1900) with each turn taking only half a second. You direct Pac-Man with a stick to tell the animation which way to move Pac-Man, and the ghosts are controlled by a machine that know how to direct the ghosts to find and eat Pac-Man. The game lasts as long as Pac Man can survive with his three lives.” - Brian
“Have you ever felt like every time you turn around, there’s someone after you chomping at your a**? That’s this game.” - Clair
“It’s a screen that shows a maze on it. You use controller knob to direct where the yellow guy goes. Eat the white things and avoid the ghost. If you eat all the white things before the ghosts can catch you, you get to do it again but it will get faster. It costs .25 to play which is really expensive in 1900 and that will get you three lives (attempts). Each time the ghosts catch you, you lose a life.” - Benjamin
“Brightly colored main character that munches on dots! Travels around in a maze, being chased by four different colored ghosts. Each ghost has a different personality and method to stymie the main character. There are various rewards, levels and strategies. The main thing you will always remember from playing this game is the sounds! The main character has a constant ‘waka-waka’ chomping sound. Then there is the death sound, which is very iconic. The game seems on the surface to not be complicated. However after playing it, it turns out to be quite the opposite. As a former player of this game, I can tell you I wasted a ton of money playing it in the arcades. It can be a rather addictive pursuit! At least I have some fond memories of hours spent trying to master it!” - Pat
“Simple: Dog eats dog ... in ball form!” - Hakalich
“In the future, image a piece of glass, painted black, with a bright light shining from behind that glass, allowing you to see drawings painted on the glass. These drawings can move, and you can move these drawings on the glass with a stick, attached to the glass by a skinny piece of flexible steel. There is a drawing of a yellow, round monster with only one mouth. He is trapped in a maze and is being chased by different colored ghosts, also drawn on the glass, which are also moving around in the maze. This monster has to eat all the small pieces of food he can to keep moving through the maze, and if he eats any of the four fancy pieces of food in the maze, the ghosts that are chasing him turn into food themselves, for a few seconds, and the yellow monster can eat them. If the yellow monster can eat any of those ghosts in those few seconds after eating the fancy food, it makes him more happy. The yellow, round monster keeps going until the ghosts catch him and destroy him. Then you start over again. This is done over and over again, for fun, even on warm sunny days.” - Anthony
“It’s a bit like a simple form of amusement you might find at a carnival or fair.
“In Pac-Man, you control a small, round character who moves around a special tabletop or board. This board represents a maze-like environment, much like a garden or labyrinth you might find in the real world. The maze is filled with dots, similar to small pebbles or marbles, scattered throughout the paths.
“Your goal as the player is to guide this round character through the maze using a small, mechanical lever or joystick. You have to eat all of these dots in the maze while avoiding colorful ghost-like figures that move around in pursuit of your character. The ghosts are like paper cutouts or puppets, and they are trying to catch your character.
“To add excitement to the game, you can find larger, more valuable dots in the maze. These dots are like shiny coins or tokens. When your character eats one of these special dots, it gains the ability to chase and eat the ghosts for a limited time, much like when a child plays tag and temporarily becomes “it.”
“The game is won by eating all the regular dots and collecting as many points as possible, while avoiding capture by the ghosts. It requires skill, strategy, and quick reflexes, much like traditional games of skill and dexterity that you might be familiar with.
“People from your time would gather around this physical Pac-Man game, much like they would gather to watch a puppet show or engage in other forms of simple entertainment. It’s a delightful and engaging pastime.” - ChatGPT, as submitted by Brian
Thank you to everyone who participated!
If your response wasn’t included this time around, give our next prompt a go: How would you describe catfishing to someone from the ‘60s?