Debuting on May 22nd, 1980, Pac-Man has been entertaining people of all ages for over 45 years. Pac-Man’s keeper Bandai Namco is looking to celebrate the character’s 46th birthday this year with a series of both in person event and digital releases which they are dubbing “Connecting the Dots”.
This month of celebration will kick off with Pac-Man crossing over with Fruit Ninja. The title will host 4 Pac-Man-themed events where you can earn weapons, dojos and special awards. Owners of PAC-MAN WORLD 2 Re-PAC will find that a new celebratory costume will be available from an in-game shop.
On the special day itself, Bandai Namco will release a brand new series of animated shorts produced by New York Based animation studio Cartuna. PAC-MAN: Snack Breaks will see the titular character leave his country life in Pac-Village behind to start over in the glitzy and neon-tinged New Pac-City. The series will feature Mike Cefalo as Pac-Man and Inky, Mike Bodie as Blinky, Rebecca Wang as Pinky, and Lukas Arnold as Clyde. You can catch a sneak peek of the series on this teaser trailer here and the entire series can be viewed on the official Pac-Man YouTube channel
If you happen to be in the New York City Area on May 16th, you can catch the first episode of Pac-Man: Snack Break as well as learn about the series at The Paley Museum. This institute which specializes in television and radio has been hosting an exhibit dedicated to Pac-Man since mid January and will run til the end of May and will be hosting a one day event dubbed the Pac-Man NYC Chompionship 2026 Tournament. Players will compete and the one with the highest score will be crowned the Pac-Man NYC Chompion. Paley Musuem Members will be able to attend the event for free, the general public will have to pay the museum’s admission fee. Details regarding the Pac-Man exhibit as well as the Pac-Man NYC Chompionship 2026 Tournament can be found on The Paley Museum’s website.
So how will you be celebrating Pac-Man’s 46th birthday? I know I’ll definitely catch Snack Break when it debuts and I might even re-install Fruit Ninja to slice some fruit, but I’ll be leaving town the day of the Chompionship Tournament, so I certainly will not contend for that crown. All and all, Pac-May is looking like it will be “connecting the dots” with all Pac-fans around the world!
PAC-MAN: Snack Breaks | Official Teaser Trailer
