Have you noticed that grocery shopping during a pandemic is a bit like playing PAC-MAN?

You collect items as you make your way through a maze while trying to stay away from other shoppers who may sneeze or cough and unleash the virus. Avoid the virus to stay healthy or fight it with disinfectant.

Video-Tutorial

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Screenshots

Play Now

Play in Browser

No installation required!

Get the Game for Android

Download  

When the download is complete, open the APK file in Downloads. You will then be prompted to change the setting to allow installation of apps from unknown sources.

Requires Android 4.4 and up.

Why not Google Play?

PAndemiC MAN has been banned from the Google Play store because Google seems to think the app is spreading misinformation about COVID-19.

Relax, folks — it's a game!

Don't spray disinfectant while shopping. Don't drink or inject it, either!

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Comments and Discussion

The game is still under development and more levels are coming. Your ideas and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

 /pandemicman
 @pandemic_man
 pman@mwurm.org

How to Play

The object of the game is to go shopping and leave the store with all the items on your list and your health intact.

Use the arrows to navigate the happy shopper through the grocery store. In the browser-based version you can also play with the keyboard's cursor keys or a gamepad (Space or Gamepad-A to stop). The shopping cart displays the items on your shopping list (greyed out initially). Collect those items. Once your cart is full, the exit opens and you can get out to end the level.

Avoid getting exposed to virus particles. Your health is indicated by the fever thermometer in the bottom-right corner. If you reach the maximum, you die.

Grab a mask if you can find one. It cuts the damage from virus exposure in half.
Some other shoppers also wear masks. They emit weaker and slower virus particles that don't travel as far.

You can take a pill to reduce your fever. You also heal a little between levels.

Grab a can of disinfectant to spray the virus particles. The button in the bottom-right corner activates the spray and shows you how much is left. You can also spray with the Shift key or Gamepad-B. The spray you have left at the end of a level carries over to the next.

Sometimes a roll of toilet paper descends from heaven. Grab it before other shoppers snatch it away and you'll get bonus points!

In good old PAC-MAN tradition you can munch on these little chips that are spread all over the level, but it is optional. You get a point for each one, or 200 points if you eat them all. They also help you see where you haven't been yet.

Modes of Play

Campaign Mode: Play a fixed set of levels with increasing difficulty. You can replay a level as often as you want, for example to improve your score or to preserve health and disinfectant for the following level. Your campaign score is the sum of the most recent level scores.

Endless Levels: Select a starting difficulty and play randomly generated levels that get harder and harder. Your score is added up until you die or exit the game.

Privacy

The app uploads anonymous usage information after each level (essentially everything you see on the level summary screen). That's it!

Credits

Copyright © 2020 Michael Wurm. All rights reserved. Contact: pman@mwurm.org