https://sumaleth.itch.io/pareidolia

Pareidolia (or, Why I Saw Pac-Man Everywhere In 2020) is my game-essay entry for the Critical Distance pandemics and games essay jam which was held in early 2021.

This short Bitsy game shares the connections I felt between Pac-Man and that weird year that was 2020. And please don’t come away from the game thinking that I hate Pac-Man; I still have a great fondness for the pucky little game.

A meditation on the most surreal year of my lifetime and a problem that is far from over, seen through the lens of a video game.

It puts something into words that I still have a hard time expressing. It also has some of the best art and coding I’ve seen in bitsy.

Play in browser.