Pac-Man ghost house rules: dot counters, timers and the exit order
The ghosts do not leave the pen on a schedule you can see. They leave when you eat dots, or when you stop eating them, and the two rules interact in ways that decide the first ten seconds of every board.
The exit order
Blinky starts outside the house, directly above the door, and is active from the first frame. Pinky starts inside and leaves immediately. Inky and Clyde wait for personal dot counters: on level 1 Inky leaves after Pac-Man has eaten 30 dots and Clyde after 60. On level 2 the counts are 0 and 50; from level 3 every ghost leaves as soon as it can. The four personalities themselves are described in names of the four pacman ghosts.
The counter only counts the preferred ghost
Only one ghost's counter is active at a time, in the order Pinky, Inky, Clyde. While Inky is waiting, every dot increments his counter; once he leaves, Clyde's counter starts from where it stood. This is why clearing dots quickly at the start releases Clyde sooner, and why players who want a quiet opening eat slowly around the edges, as suggested in proven pacman scoring strategies.
The no-dot timer
If Pac-Man goes 4 seconds without eating a dot (3 seconds from level 5), the next waiting ghost is released regardless of its counter and the timer resets. Standing still or looping through cleared corridors therefore releases the whole house within about twelve seconds. The timer exists to stop a player from parking in a safe spot forever.
After a death
When Pac-Man dies the personal counters are suspended and a single global counter takes over, counting dots eaten after the restart: Pinky leaves at 7, Inky at 17 and Clyde at 32. When Clyde leaves, the global counter is switched off and the personal counters resume. This is one reason patterns break after a death, as explained in memorised pacman routes.
Returning home as eyes
An eaten ghost travels to the tile above the door at high speed, enters the house, regenerates and leaves again immediately at normal speed, ignoring the counters. The frightened timers that create these trips are in how power pellets work.
Using the rules
- On level 1, you have roughly the first 30 dots alone with Blinky and Pinky. Clear a corner.
- Never pause near the house entrance: the no-dot timer will release a ghost directly in front of you.
- After a death, expect Pinky within seconds and Clyde within about 30 dots; do not plan on the quiet opening you had before.
The drones in the games on the play mr pacman style games leave on a simple time delay instead, one every 1.4 seconds, so the opening is predictable there.
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Frequently asked questions
When does Clyde leave the ghost house?
After 60 dots on level 1, 50 on level 2, and immediately from level 3, unless the no-dot timer releases him first.
Why did a ghost come out when I stopped moving?
The no-dot timer releases the next ghost after 4 seconds without eating (3 seconds from level 5).
Does Blinky ever wait in the house?
Only after being eaten, when he regenerates and leaves immediately. At board start he is already outside.