The player uses a joystick to control Pac-Man, navigating him through a maze of consumable dashes called video wafers, opposed by a quartet of multi-colored ghosts.[6][7] The goal of the game is to earn a high score by having Pac-Man eat video wafers, power pills, vitamins and ghosts. Every time Pac-Man eats all the video wafers in the maze, he earns an extra life and a new maze full of wafers.[8] A group of ghosts roam the maze, trying to eat Pac-Man. If one touches Pac-Man, he loses a life.[7] Pac-Man can be played as a one-player game or a two-player game with the players alternating turns after Pac-Man is eaten by a ghost.[9]
Near the corners of the maze are four larger, flashing consumables known as Power Pills that turn the ghosts a blue transparent colour and give Pac-Man the temporary ability to eat the ghosts and earn points.[6] When a ghost is eaten, its disembodied eyes return to the big square chamber in the center of the maze to respawn.[7] The blue ghosts turn pink during the last moments of a Power Pill's effect, signaling that they are about to become dangerous again.[6] The final consumable items are the Vitamins, which appear periodically directly below the nest and award the player with further points.[6]
The game has eight variations, offering two different starting speeds for Pac-Man and four speeds for the ghosts.[10] Setting the console's A–B difficulty switches can also handicap one or both players. If the switch is set to A position, the power pills' effects do not last as long.[11]