The classic video game Pac-Man has come to life on the streets of Halifax.
It is the brain child of Matt Stewart, who calls the real-life version of the game Hali-Pac.
“I grew up playing Pac-Man my whole life and once I realized that everyone pretty much has a GPS in their phone, I just got the idea to bring it to life,” says Stewart.
In Stewart’s version, the streets of downtown Halifax are the maze. All the original characters are there but they have different names. Instead of Inky, Pinky, Blinky, and Clyde, there is Hali-Pac, Dinky, Rinky, Hyde, and Winky.
“The goal is for Hali-Pac to clear all the streets, just like in the actual game,” says Stewart. “Basically, we have Argyle Street, Sackville, Duke and Lower Water as our boundaries for the game and the streets in between are the maze.”
A team of four players dress up as ghosts and, armed with GPS, they have 30 minutes to locate the fifth player, Hali-Pac. The sixth player stays behind.
“He’s in constant communication, telling Hali-Pac where he’s gotta go, what streets still need to be cleared and where each ghost is, to make sure he doesn’t run into them,” says Stewart.
If he does run into them, it is game over.
Funding for the game’s start-up came from the Halifax Awesome Foundation.
“Every month we give away $1,000 in cash to a project or idea that is designed to make people smile and make Halifax more awesome and Matt’s idea definitely qualified,” says Mike Kennedy of Halifax Awesome Foundation.
The game has gone through some changes since its conception. The game’s boundaries used to stretch up to Brunswick Street, but the players found that a little tiring and made it more difficult to find Hali-Pac.
“This would be the most original one we’ve had in terms of taking a really cool concept like Pac-Man and bringing it to life and Matt’s brought a lot of technology into the game, like GPS and GoPros,” says Kennedy.
Hali-Pac has been active for two weeks. Right now it is more like a costumed game of tag. There are no cherries, ice cream cones or prizes, at least not yet.
“We’re hoping to get a lot of the downtown businesses on board to provide gift certificates to act as the cherries or ice cream cones,” says Stewart.
In this game, rules of the road apply and streets can only be crossed on the pedestrian cross signal, or in a marked, designated crosswalk.
Those who have played it say it is a lot of fun.
“This is the first time for me,” says Chris Johnson. “I might be late for work, but it was worth it.”
“It’s not something you would expect to see running around downtown Halifax. A lot of people know right away what it is,” says Jill Bernier.
“It brings a smile to everyone’s face,” says Stewart. “If you see us running by and you don’t smile, there is something wrong with you.”
With files from CTV Atlantic's Gena Holley
