Pac-Man Reimagined As A Hollow Knight-Inspired 2D Action Platformer Shadow Labyrinth

At The Game Awards 2024, Bandai Namco revealed Shadow Labyrinth, a 2D action-platformer reimagining of the iconic Pac-Man franchise. The game is set to launch sometime in 2025 for PC, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X|S.

Shadow Labyrinth follows a mysterious swordsman as he is reawakened by a yellow sphere called PUCK, a clear reference to the Pac-Man character. It's also worth noting that Puck-Man is the character's Japanese name, so PUCK is yet another homage. Interestingly, Shadow Labyrinth doesn't carry the Pac-Man brand name. But looking closely at the logo, the letter "O" in "Shadow" shows the classic Pac-Man circle.

While details are scarce, Shadow Labyrinth's gameplay is more like a traditional metroidvania-style game such as Hollow Knight and Ori and the Blind Forest, but is not a roguelike such as Dead Cells. Shadow Labyrinth is certainly a much darker take on the Pac-Man IP rather than the family-friendly image that it's known for.

The Amazon Prime video game anthology, Secret Level, recently released an episode dedicated to Pac-Man called Pac-Man: Circle. It's actually a prequel to Shadow Labyrinth, so it's worth checking out before the game releases.