The Pac-Man Secret Level

Wolfenstein 3D · PC · 1992

One of Wolfenstein 3D's hidden levels recreates a Pac-Man maze in first-person 3D, complete with the original ghosts patrolling the corridors — a homage tucked inside the game that helped define the first-person shooter.

Wolfenstein 3D, id Software's breakthrough first-person shooter, hides numerous secret areas behind push-walls, and among them is a level built as a tribute to Pac-Man. The layout recreates the famous Pac-Man maze, and patrolling its corridors are Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde — the four ghosts from Namco's arcade classic — rendered as enemies in id's 3D engine. Encountering the instantly recognisable maze from the inside, in a game otherwise about escaping a Nazi castle, is a jarring and delightful surprise. The homage reflects the playful culture of early 1990s PC development, where developers routinely hid jokes and references in their games. It also demonstrated the flexibility of Wolfenstein 3D's engine, which could represent a top-down arcade maze as a navigable 3D space. The Pac-Man level is among the most fondly remembered secrets of a game already famous for its hidden rooms, and it sits within a tradition of cross-pollination between the arcade era and the emerging PC gaming scene.