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PacMania Submitted by: Patrick Bickford
Outline: This is the hottest game at all of my schools! This multi-topic adaptable game consists of students maneuvering their PacMen  around a chalkboard-size game board while trying avoid the evil ghosts. Teaching Suggestions: This game is not for the faint of heart. I usually spend about 15-20 minutes explaining this game, but because it can virtually be used for any topic, the long-run benefits outweigh the loss of class time explaining rules. That being said, you can make this game as easy or as difficult as you want. For example, give random topics to the students and every word they say under thetopic is one move for their PacMan - fruit: apple, orange, peach, grape, banana, etc. How can this game be used for any topic? The most basic method is to show a target vocabulary flashcard and ask for the English equivilant. However, my suggestion is to find other creative ways to practice the vocabulary. Changes to the rules below are encouraged. Different classes have different atmospheres.
Materials needed: (see attachments below) Preparation: Procedure: Split the class in teams. You decide the number of teams and players on each team, depending on your class size. Each group chooses their team’s color. I give each team three lives. I've played this game for one hour straight and have never had a team use all their lives. If a team comes close to dying, simply award a 'level-up' by awarding each team an extra life. One PacMan from every team is placed in the 'START' area. The rectangle directly outside of the start area is a "safe area". The evil PacMan can't enter this area. The teacher controls the ghosts. Two ghosts are placed on the game board. The ghost's initial location is chosen by playing Janken (see ‘group Janken’). All students, including the teacher, play against the ALT. The final two players of Janken place the ghosts anywhere they want on the game board. One student from each team stands up. Play starts by showing a flashcard and asking for the English equivalent, or whatever creative method you have created for the students to drill new vocabulary. The first student to raise their hand and answers correctly can move their team's Pacman 1-3 spaces, depending on the difficulty of the question. All of the Pacmen begin in the "Start Area". For the first move out of the start area, the student chooses one of the boxed numbers, located directly outside this area. The Man enters the 'dangerzone' from one of these numbers. The goal of the game is to stay alive and to try and touch one of the four power pellets located in the four corners of the game board. If a team touches a pellet, they receive a point. At the conclusion of every round, every ghost receives one move in any direction. Since there are two ghosts on the game board, the teacher receives two moves. The moves can be split between the ghosts OR collectively by moving only one ghost. Eventually, the students find the ghosts are moving faster than they are, at which point you should 'level-up' every team's Pacmen by giving them more moves per turn.
 Variations: PacMan bump: Take the ghosts out of the game. Have the teams compete against each other via the ‘PacMan bump’ option. If a PacMan touches a PacMan from another team, the ‘bumped’ PacMan is returned back to the start area. To avoid PacMen being bumped after one move out of the safe area, allow the first three moves to be 'safe moves'. 2-mai safety: If Pacmen are dying too quickly, add the ‘2-mai’ variation. ' Mai' is the Japanese counter for thin objects. If two Pacmen occupy the same space, they are safe until one of them moves. This includes two different teams occupying the same space. Tunnel Options: To give the students a fighting chance, you might think about making the tunnels a safe area. Meaning, the Pacmen can can use the tunnels but the ghosts cannot. There are six tunnel entrances. Instead of a PacMan traveling straight through the tunnel, when a PacMan enters the tunnel, allow the team to choose the entrance they want to re-enter the game board.
Ghost against PacMan: This variation is similar to the ‘PacMan bump,’ but instead of PacMen bumping each other, allow half of the teams to choose being ghost teams. Do you remember the original video game, when PacMan would touch a power pellet the ghosts would turn blue and were edible to PacMan? If one of the PacMan teams touches a power pellet, the ghosts turn blue for 10 rounds and the PacMen can chase the ghosts for 5-10 rounds.Level-up Pacman: When a PacMan enters the ‘danger area,’ insert another one of their lives into the safe area. The number of movements a team receives when they answer a question is based upon the number of PacMen in the danger zone. Therefore, if a team has three PacMen in the danger zone, their team receives three moves every time they answer a question. They can split their moves between their Pacmen or use all the movies on one piece. Level-up Ghost: Insert another ghost into the game board. Have everyone once again play Janken and the winner places the ghost anywhere they want on the game board. BTW, I've found that students usually place the new ghost next to an opposing team’s PacMan. Leveling the playing field: Obviously, some students are better at English than others. Instead of the fastest student answering the question, insert a 3-second timer after each question asked. When the timer runs out, everybody who has their hands raised plays a Janken against you. Tips or Cautions: If you use this game and it's not successful the first couple times, don't worry! Concentrate on the problem areas, change them and try again. I played this game three times and I was still making changes to the rules before I came up with a set of rules that worked for me. Game board size: I have already deleted half of the game board’s pellets. If the game board still too big, every computer has Microsoft Paint, which will allow you to easily erase even more pellets to allow for a faster moving game.
Attachments:
  
Game Board PacMen Ghosts
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