Playing Pac-Man Live in Dubai: Chasing pellets and dodging ghosts in a fun, surprisingly physical game

It’s not every day I get to run around with my friends, trying not to be eaten by ghosts. At least, not at this age. But here I am at Active Games UAE (also home to Chaos Karts) in Al Quoz, Dubai, trying out their newest attraction, Pac-Man Live Experience.

As the name suggests, it’s an immersive, real-life version of the classic arcade game where my friends and I step into a glowing maze and become Pac-Man. Before we enter the arena, we register by inputting our names (feeling clever, I go by Eve-Man) and get suited up in a “Pac vest” that will track our every move.

The Pac-Man game master – dressed in a yellow suit, of course – gives us a colourful rundown of the rules. The format follows the original video game: we score points by “eating” pellets and collecting as much fruit as possible, all while avoiding ghosts (unless they’re blue) and steering clear of other players (for our safety) as well as the projected walls because we lose points if we touch them. There are also symbols worth more points that we need to grab before another player does.

While the explanation is helpful, it’s still not immediately clear how the game plays out. Other people are joining our session, so we have some lingering questions. Are we on teams? Are we competing against each other? The instructions don’t spell that out clearly, so my friends and I spend the first round figuring it out as we go.

We step into the arena, where a Pac-Man maze is projected on to the floor. Each of us is assigned a starting point. The walls around us display an animated audience of tiny Pac-Men (and women), and a giant leader board shows our points after each round, revealing that we are playing as individuals.

Taking the game off-console means moves are not restricted to the original Pac-Man's strict four directions and we are able to dart around.

A session runs for about 30 to 40 minutes, broken into roughly two-minute games. After the first game, I realise this will take more physical effort than I expected. While we’re not exactly sprinting, there’s a fair bit of movement involved in chasing down pellets and fruit before anyone else does. For fitness tracker fans, my Whoop Strain was 9.3, registered as 45 minutes of physical activity with five minutes of Zone 3 heart rate.

Luckily, there are short breaks built in. During the session, players are randomly selected to become ghosts – so they sit out that game – while the rest continue racking up points. The idea is that this rotates, and everyone gets the same amount of rest time so it's fair. We also play mini-games for a chance to boost our scores.

After a few rounds, I come up with a strategy to maximise points but apparently, so does my friend, as we nearly crash into each other more than once. In the end, I beat him (barely) and joyously come out on top as the overall winner. However, I won’t reveal my winning tactic. I’ll leave that for future players to figure out.

Pac-Man Live brings out everyone’s competitive side, but in a good way. Whether with friends, family or even co-workers, it taps into a playful energy that’s hard to resist. There’s something genuinely fun about chasing dots, dodging ghosts and trying to climb that leader board – especially when trying to beat people you know.

For those who want to give it a go, I’d recommend wearing trainers and perhaps packing a change of clothes in preparation for working up a sweat. This game works just as well for adults reliving childhood arcade memories as it does for children seeing Pac-Man come to life for the first time.

Pac-Man Live Experience opens Wednesday; tickets start at Dh160