They’re not kidding. It’s literally not Pac-Man, but something oh so awesomely different.
Pac-Man is a pretty straight forward game: eat all the dots, avoid the multicolored ghosts, and a winner is you. It’s a simple, but sure-fire enjoyable gameplay template that has stood the test of time and has achieved the Namco Bandai series global recognition. Don’t you remember when everybody got Pac-Man Fever?! I know I did!
Okay, so now through all that out – power-pellet grabbing, using that mid-maze tunnel to escape, and including my patented “can’t lose strategy” of going around in circles (okay yeah, I’m horrible at Pac-Man) – because what you’re about to see and play, if you’ve got the “tangerines” at least, is a brilliant indie twist on the arcade classic we’ve come to know and love.
It’s called Not Pac-Man. And it’s called Not Pac-Man because that’s – well – what it is, a game that looks, especially with its familiar opening marquee, like the 1980 original, but plays quite differently once you press start. So what kind of curve ball did Stabyourself.net – creators of this particular freeware title – throw at the player?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJWJt_lgd4g&w=600&h=450]
In the game players must control the maze itself and “Not” Pac-Man. Like ball-bearings falling through a Pachinko machine, Pac and his ghostly pals all move by the grace of gravity and it’s up to the user, by means of mouse or keyboard, to arrange their surroundings in such a way so that Pac completes his traditional dots-accumulating mission without being gobbled up like a pepperoni on a pizza.
On the “Pretty sneaky, Sis” meter, Not Pac-Man registers a near perfect 10 from what I’ve seen and if you think you have what it takes to tackle it – you mad man, you – it’s free to download on your PC/Mac/Linux from Stabyourself.net.
Also free is the assortment of cool geeky news and special interests from Walyou like Metal Gear Rex in LEGO-form and electro-shocking alarm clocks.
