# How to make a Pac-Man-style maze game with AI

This page: https://www.teleplay.ai/guides/how-to-make-a-pac-man-style-maze-game-with-ai
Updated: 2026-11-04

## Quick answer

A maze chase is a collecting game with pursuers: clear the maze of dots while enemies hunt you, and turn the tables with a short power-up. Teleplay can build this as your own game, with your own hero, maze and chasers, when you describe those rules. It will not make the original's characters, and a sentence naming them is refused.

## Collect-and-escape games to open

- [Bramblehive: The Three Honey Seals](https://www.teleplay.ai/play/127dcb8a-0962-41b4-a90a-bfae57febd04): Top-down RPG
- [Manor of Whispers](https://www.teleplay.ai/play/manor-of-whispers-e0a80c84): Top-down action
- [NEON VAULT](https://www.teleplay.ai/play/neon-vault-5dac8fef): Top-down action

## What you are actually describing

| Part | What it does | Make it yours with |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The maze | Corridors that force choices | A library at night, a beehive, a server room |
| The pickups | A reason to enter every corridor | Lost socks, gems, dropped tickets |
| The chasers | Pressure, with habits you can learn | Librarians, wasps, security bots |
| The power-up | A short moment of revenge | A loud whistle, a smoke cloud, a magnet |

The genre's trick is that the chasers don't all behave alike. Give each one a habit in plain words: one follows you, one tries to cut you off, one wanders. That gives the player something to read.

## An example sentence

Written for this guide rather than taken from a published game. Note that it describes the rules, and never the classic it comes from.

> Sneak through a moonlit library maze collecting lost bookmarks while three librarians hunt you, one following, one cutting you off and one wandering, and blow a whistle to send them running for a few seconds.

## Getting from that to a good game

1. **Keep the first maze small** One screen, no scrolling. A maze that doesn't fit makes the chasers feel unfair.
2. **Check the chasers in the first run** Do they differ? If they all follow you, ask in the editor for one that cuts you off.
3. **Tune the speeds** Chasers a little slower than you at the start, nearly equal by the third maze.
4. **Add mazes last** Plan up to 5 levels on Create, or add one in the editor once the first feels right.

## What to expect

Chaser behavior is the part most likely to need a second pass. A build gives you working pursuit, and personality comes from a second pass. Treat the first build as a draft, and describe what you want changed.

## Questions

**Can I use the name or the characters?**

No. A request that names a known character or brand is refused, and the guidelines don't allow them. Describe your own hero and your own chasers.

**Can I draw my own maze?**

Not by hand. Describe its shape in the sentence, or change it in the editor by saying what should be different.

**Does it work on phones?**

Yes for playing. Four-way movement suits touch controls, and games made with the code engine draw their own.

**Can friends be the chasers?**

You can ask for that with With friends chosen, for 2–4 players, and it is a harder game to balance. Build the solo version first.

## Read next

- [How to make a snake game with AI](https://www.teleplay.ai/guides/how-to-make-a-snake-game-with-ai)
- [AI top-down shooter maker: arenas, waves and bosses from one sentence](https://www.teleplay.ai/guides/ai-top-down-shooter-maker)
- [How to make a tower defense game with AI](https://www.teleplay.ai/guides/how-to-make-a-tower-defense-game-with-ai)
- [Community guidelines](https://www.teleplay.ai/guidelines)