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How to Build a Pacman / Maze Escape Mini-Game in Minecraft

Note: This guide was written before Command Blocks were a thing.

I think we all know the game Pacman and many of you will probably know the myth of the Minotaur. This mini game is based on both of these. The aim of the game is for 1 player or team to find their way to the exit(s) of the maze before the other player or team can find and kill them.

This game is best played with 2 teams, of which one is smaller but (way) better geared than the larger team. One of the teams will start in the center of the maze, while the other team will be spread around the maze or placed at the exits/entrances. Which version you chose will depend on how difficult you want it to be for the escaping team, starting in the center will be more difficult for them.

Once everybody is in position the game starts. The escaping team will have to get away from the other teams or risk beig killed. The escaping team can defend themselves, but the hunting team will be far better geared than them and can easily fight even a few escapees at the same time.

Everybody’s allowed to talk, but typing means you’re not moving, which usually means you’ll die. You could use microphones and services like skype or teamspeak, though if you do you might as well place each team in their seperate chat room.

The winners will be whoever escaped or the hunting team if they’ve killed everybody.

This game works even better when the hunting team know the maze very well, though the team should be quite small compared to the escaping team if only the hunters know the layout of the maze.

Pacman Version

In the pacman version we play it a little differently. The teams can still be the same size, though we now only let one team fight the other, depending on who managed to grab armour out of a chest. The attackers shouldn’t be wearing any armour or at least weaker armour than the defending team can take out of the chests.

As anybody who has played Pacman knows, the roles can be reversed by eating a large circle. Our large circle in this case will be a chest with armour (perhaps just a helmet) which will show the player has found the chest. Escapees with a helmet can no longer be attacked by the hunter, but can instead attack the hunters.

If you really want to create a Pacman game, assign 1 player as the escapee (Pacman) and 4 others as the hunters (ghosts). Put all the ghosts in their own small room and open the doors one at a time. You could make the escapee punch all the torches off the walls or floor to mimic the dots.

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