Shadow Labyrinth, Bandai Namco’s refreshingly gritty take on Pac-Man, is launching on July 18. First announced at The Game Awards 2024, Shadow Labyrinth isn’t exactly what anyone expected for a new Pac-Man game.
Rather than the traditional, ghost-dodging and orb-eating gameplay, Shadow Labyrinth takes things a step further with exploration elements more in line with Metroidvanias like Hollow Knight. While the game is never explicitly described as such, all of the elements are there. You explore, fight enemies, and grow stronger by consuming fallen foes, and expand your abilities to go proceed deeper into the labyrinth itself.
Pac-Man, known as Puck in this game, can combine with the player character (the Swordsman) through an ability called Phase Shifting. While that helps you explore, fusing into the Gaia Form — a sort of mecha suit with Puck at the center — will give you increased combat abilities that allow you to rival even the strongest enemies.
One thing to note: Pac-Man isn’t actually Pac-Man in this game. The name Puck is a reference to the title’s original name, Puck Man. The story isn’t totally clear on what Puck is or why he’s in the maze, but that’s for you to discover while you play the game. There’s a lot to be found, especially since the player wakes up with no memory of why they’re in that world. The few hints we’ve been given suggest a deeply sci-fi storyline.
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And for those fans that spotted the similarities to Amazon’s Secret Level episode, know this: it was no accident.
Bandai Namco had teased a 2025 release date, but it wasn’t until today’s Nintendo Direct that we received a firm window: July 18, 2025. That’s only a few months away, so you don’t have to wait long to get your hands on this unique spin of an iconic video game character.
