The theme of MiniLD 58, a small game jam held between March 20th and March 29th, was PONG. Riffing on this, game designer Dick Poelen created PACAPONG. It’s a mash-up on Pong, Pac-Man, and Space Invaders.
It’s meant to be played by two players, with one controlling the paddle on the left with the WASD keys, and the other player controlling the paddle on the right with the arrow keys.
From there, the paddles then launch Pac-Man through the maze between each of the paddles. The goal here is to collect as many pellets as possible to fill up your score bar (shown at the top) more than your opponents. If Pac-Man runs into a ghost without consuming a Power Pellet, he dies, and it’s the other person’s turn.
In the maze you can also see small Space Invaders aliens. Having Pac-Man eat these sends these aliens over to your enemy’s side. If they collide with them their score bar recedes. However, they can be dodged, and if Pac-Man collects a Power Pellet then the paddle sends out bullets to shoot the aliens too.
You can download PACAPONG for free on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It’s available on its Ludum Dare page and on itch.io.
