Pac-Man 256: The Endless Maze Game Explained — the Glitch, Power-Ups, and Free Alternatives
Pac-Man 256 is the 2015 endless-maze game from the makers of Crossy Road. It takes the most famous bug in arcade history — the level-256 kill screen — and turns it into the enemy. Here's how it works, where you can get it, and what to play in a browser if you can't.
What Pac-Man 256 is
Pac-Man 256 was developed by Hipster Whale (the Crossy Road studio) with 3 Sprockets and published by Bandai Namco. It launched on iOS and Android in August 2015 and came to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows in June 2016. Instead of a fixed maze, the board scrolls upward forever; your score is how far you get before something catches you.
Why it's called 256
In the original 1980 arcade game, an 8-bit overflow turns level 256 into a corrupted half-maze that can't be completed — the kill screen. Pac-Man 256 makes that corruption a character: the Glitch is a wall of scrambled graphics that creeps up from the bottom of the screen. Stop moving and it swallows you. The number also sets the game's signature combo: eat 256 dots without a gap and you trigger a screen-clearing bonus.
How it plays
- Swipe to move. Pac-Man keeps going in the chosen direction until a wall stops him.
- Dots and combos. Chains of dots are worth more; break the chain and the counter resets.
- Power-ups. Collected from the maze, each lasts a few seconds: Laser, Tornado, Freeze, Bomb, Giant, Fire, Stealth, Magnet and more. You can equip three at a time and upgrade them with coins.
- Ghosts. The classic four plus newcomers like Sue, Funky, Spunky and Glitchy, each with its own movement rule — a few sit still until you pass, some patrol fixed lanes.
- Credits. The mobile version uses a credit system (refilling over time or by watching an ad) for runs with power-ups; the console and PC versions remove that and add up to four-player local co-op.
Reception and status
It was named one of Google Play's best games of 2015 and nominated for best mobile game at The Game Awards that year. The game is still available on the app stores and digital console storefronts, though it hasn't had a major content update in years.
Free browser games with the same feel
There's no browser version of Pac-Man 256. If you want the "keep moving or die" pressure, try Pacman Hell; for unfamiliar mazes that stop you relying on memory, Pacman New Levels; and for a board that effectively never ends, Pac-Dots loads the World's Biggest Pac-Man, a community grid of thousands of linked mazes. All are free and need no download — see the full games list.