How to play Google Pac-Man in two-player mode, and other doodle tricks
The 2010 doodle hides a co-op mode that the arcade never had. Here is how to unlock it, how to play on a phone, and what else the doodle does that people miss.
Unlocking two players
- Open the doodle from Google's doodle archive (search "Google Pac-Man doodle" or "play Pac-Man Google").
- Click the Insert Coin button once to start a single-player game.
- Click Insert Coin a second time. Ms. Pac-Man appears next to Pac-Man.
- Player one uses the arrow keys; player two uses W, A, S and D. Both share the same maze, dots, pellets and ghosts.
The ghosts target the nearest player with their usual rules, so one player can act as bait while the other clears dots. It is the only official way to play the two characters simultaneously in the classic maze; the arcade sequel compared in pacman vs ms pacman was single-player only.
Other things the doodle does
- Auto-start. On the original 2010 homepage the game started by itself after ten seconds, which is why so many people "accidentally" played. The archived version waits for a click.
- Mobile play. On a touchscreen, tap or swipe in the direction you want to move; the maze is wide, so landscape works better.
- Sound. The original Namco sound effects are included; a speaker icon in the corner mutes them.
- Faithful rules. Ghost personalities, frightened timers and scoring follow the arcade, as detailed in google pacman doodle vs arcade; the maze is the only big change.
- No kill screen. The doodle loops its boards rather than reproducing level 256.
Tips for the logo maze
The letters create unusually long horizontal corridors across the top and bottom, which favour Blinky's direct chase, and tight loops inside the two "o" shapes, which are the best places to group ghosts before a pellet. Cornering works exactly as in the arcade, so the technique in cutting corners in pacman applies. The tunnels are on the far left and right of the middle row.
Why it matters
For millions of people the doodle was their first and only Pac-Man, and its two-player mode introduced a cooperative idea that later games such as Pac-Man Party Royale built on. Google buried other playable surprises in its products too, most famously the offline T-Rex runner, the dinosaur game from Google search, which we host on a dedicated site. The anniversary it celebrated is explained in pacman original release year. If you want a maze that is not shaped like a word, the games on the mr pacman retro arcade hub are the next click.
More from the guides
- why is pacman called pacman — Why is Pac-Man called Pac-Man? The name comes from paku-paku, Japanese for munching. It la…
- pacman scoring system — The complete Pac-Man scoring system: 10 per dot, 50 per power pellet, 200-1,600 ghost chai…
- main pacman characters — All Pac-Man characters explained: Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Blinky, Pinky, Inky, Clyde, Sue, J…
Frequently asked questions
How do you get two players on Google Pac-Man?
Click Insert Coin twice. Ms. Pac-Man joins and is controlled with the W, A, S and D keys.
Is Google Pac-Man still available?
Yes, in Google's doodle archive, playable in any modern browser.
Does Google Pac-Man work on phones?
Yes. Tap or swipe to move; landscape orientation fits the wide maze best.