Pac-Man intermissions: the three cutscenes and when they play
Ten seconds of comedy after certain boards. The intermissions were the first cutscenes in a mainstream arcade game and still make people laugh at a red ghost's misfortune.
When intermissions appear
| After board | Intermission | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | First | Blinky chases Pac-Man across the screen; both return with Pac-Man now giant-sized, chasing a terrified Blinky |
| 5 | Second | Blinky's sheet catches on a nail in the middle of the screen and tears as he struggles free |
| 9, 13, 17 and then every four boards | Third | Blinky, sheet stitched back together, chases Pac-Man off screen and returns without his sheet, revealing a bare body |
The sequence is tied to the fruit table rather than to a separate counter, which is why the third intermission repeats on the key-fruit boards. The fruit schedule is in pacman bonus fruit values.
Why they exist
Toru Iwatani wanted the game to have moments of relief and a sense of character. He has said the ghosts were meant to be comic rather than menacing, and the intermissions make Blinky, the most aggressive ghost (profiled in blinky the red ghost), the butt of the joke. For the player they also serve as a breather: nothing can go wrong for a few seconds, and the siren stops.
Details worth noticing
- The giant Pac-Man in the first intermission is drawn at double size, a hint that the hardware could scale sprites that the main game never used.
- The second intermission's nail is the only time a wall-like object appears outside the maze.
- The bare Blinky of the third intermission led to decades of debate about what a ghost looks like under the sheet; the design is a pink, segmented body with a bulging eye.
- The music for the intermissions is a separate jingle by Toshio Kai, covered in every pacman sound listed.
Intermissions in later games
Ms. Pac-Man replaced them with a three-act love story ("They Meet", "The Chase", "Junior") that ends with a stork delivering a baby, which is where the cartoon's family came from, as described in pacman characters list. Championship Edition dropped intermissions entirely because the game is timed. Our own games on the mr pacman free online arcade go straight to the next board, so clearing the maze is its own reward.
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Frequently asked questions
How many intermissions does Pac-Man have?
Three, shown after boards 2, 5 and 9, with the third repeating every four boards afterwards.
Can you skip a Pac-Man intermission?
No. On the arcade cabinet they play in full; some home versions let you press a button to skip.
Which ghost is in the intermissions?
Blinky, the red ghost, in all three.