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Google’s Halloween Doodle Revives Pac-Man in a Spooky 2025 Maze
Google has transformed its home page into a digital arcade thanks to an all-new interactive Doodle called ‘PAC-MAN: Halloween 2025 Edition,’ released Friday, October 30, as the search engine celebrated the 45th anniversary of the arcade icon and gave it a seasonal twist in the process. Players will guide a witch’s hat-wearing Pac-Man through eight haunted-house themed levels filled with creepy sound effects and retro visuals.
It premiered on desktop and mobile for a limited time, bringing back fond memories among fans who still recall the original 2010 Google Pac-Man Doodle, one of the company’s first playable designs.
Why Bring Back Pac-Man Now?
The 2025 Doodle isn’t just a festive tribute but also a marker of Pac-Man’s enduring influence on gaming and pop culture. Created in 1980 by Toru Iwatani, the character’s simple gameplay and universal charm have kept it relevant decades later. ‘Pac-Man’s spirit of fun and discovery still resonates,’ said Google’s Doodle team in a blog post.
Merging Halloween’s ghosts and mazes with the franchise’s signature chases, Google combines nostalgia with seasonal engagement in a way that has helped turn its Doodles into cultural events.
Also Read: Top 10 Must-Read Halloween Books for Kids in 2025
How Can You Play the Google Doodle?
Click the Doodle on Google’s homepage to start the game. Players can use arrow keys or mobile swipes to clear the dots, dodge Blinky, Inky, Pinky, and Clyde, and collect spooky power pellets to reverse the chase.
The special edition remains playable only through the Halloween weekend, after which it may be moved to Google’s Doodle archive, so players have just a short window to play it live.
What’s the Bigger Picture?
The Halloween Doodle that Google made tells us that the company is still using interactive media to attract users and make them happy all over the world. Besides bringing back memories, it is also a sign of the fact that even an old game like Pac-Man can still be played and enjoyed in a browser window, albeit slowly, one pellet at a time.
