Mancs will soon be able to run around a life-size Pac-Man maze in a brand new augmented reality experience heading to Manchester soon.
The new Pac-Man Live Experience will come from the same teams behind the smash-hit The Crystal Maze Live, and the popular attraction Chaos Karts, which will close to make room for the new addition.
Based on the iconic video game, the experience will be real life, playable Pac-Man on an epic scale.
Players will step into the role of Pac-People and will navigate through immersive mazes, collecting power pellets and fruit and dodging ghosts as they go.
Whoever can collect the most points will be declared victor.
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The experience uses cutting-edge augmented reality technology to bring classic Pac-Man characters and elements into the real-world environment.
There’ll be multiple mazes and up to 12 different levels to explore, including a new bonus game, with these dynamic playgrounds filled with challenges and surprises.
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It’ll be accessible for all guests and have an age range between eight and 80.
Little Lion Entertainment has recently acquired The Games Arenas, spaces where exciting and interactive worlds (such as the current Chaos Karts world) can be created.
Up next at the Manchester site, down near the Science and Industry Museum, will be The Pac-Man Live Experience, based on the iconic video game.
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It’ll be a chance to chomp your way around a maze, Pac-Man style, like never before.
Chaos Karts will close to make room for the Pac-Man Live Experience in ManchesterChaos Karts will close to make room for the Pac-Man Live Experience in Manchester
The new playable live experience is a collaboration with Bandai Namco Entertainment, the leading global video game publisher behind iconic franchises such as PAC-MAN, TEKKEN, and ELDEN RING.
Tom Lionetti-Maguire, CEO of Little Lion Entertainment, said: “We are ecstatic to collaborate with Bandai Namco Entertainment, the pioneers of one of the most beloved video games in history.
“Their expertise and collaboration in our creative vision have been invaluable in ensuring that our live experience remains authentic to the original game while offering a fresh and thrilling twist in bringing this into a fully playable 360-degree digital world.”
Aadil Tayouga, Licensing & Business Strategy Director at Bandai Namco Europe, said: “This new experience perfectly aligns with PAC-MAN, offering something fun and entertaining that appeals to both children and adults.
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“We can’t wait for people to discover this innovative and truly unique experience created by our partner at Little Lion Entertainment, bringing PAC-MAN to a whole new field while staying true to the franchise’s values.”
An official launch date for the Pac-Man Live Experience in Manchester hasn’t yet been announced.
You can eat Christmas dinner on a retro steam train travelling through Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Greater Manchester’s iconic heritage railway is back with one of the most festive fine-dining experiences in the region this Christmas.
It’s no secret that East Lancashire Railway (ELR) is known and loved for its immersive events, giving rail enthusiasts and curious Mancs the chance to step back in time by hopping on board one of the historic Pullman-style carriages through the picturesque Greater Manchester countryside, but it gets even more magical at Christmas.
Every time the festive season rolls around, it always tends to be ELR’s beloved Santa steam trains that grab headlines more, as the event has gone on to become an absolute Christmas classic for families in the North West over the years.
But especially for the grown-ups, how does getting the chance to tuck into a luxury Christmas dinner onboard the retro locomotive sound instead?
East Lancashire Railway’s festive ‘Dining with Distinction’ experiences are back this Christmas / Credit: ELR
ELR’s unique ‘Dining with Distinction’ package is known to be a fan-favourite all year round, but this December, the festive edition of this experience is back once again by popular demand for another year, and passengers can enjoy their Christmas dinner whilst taking in the seasonal sights of the stunning Irwell Valley.
You’ll be onboard one of ELR’s restored Pullman-style steam train carriages, boasting the most luxurious furnishing and polished panels to provide the perfect atmosphere for a sumptuous festive feasting dining experience.
Upon boarding, you’ll be presented with sparkling welcome drink to kick-off the festivities, all before you’re served up four courses of festive delicacies.
Traditional roasted turkey served with kilted chipolata and stuffing, a festive wellington, tender sirloin of beef with horseradish, a homemade Christmas pudding with rum sauce, and a warm sticky toffee pudding with custard, are just some of the dishes being served by personal dedicated waters on selected dates throughout the month.
A wide range of dietary requirements can be catered for, including vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, gluten free, dairy free, halal, and diabetic.
The Christmas Dinner services are running on selected dates from Friday 29 November – Monday 23 December, with tickets now on sale and setting you back £69 per person.
Bottomless Rocky Horror singalong screening returns to Manchester this Halloween
Emily Sergeant
We all know Halloween is right around the corner, and there’s a little cinema in our city that’s celebrating the spooky season in style.
In case you hadn’t heard, the much-loved frightening film event, STAB Film Season is back and “bigger than ever” this year at Manchester’s home of cult cinema, video games, and “cool nerdy events”, Cultplex – which is tucked away within the award-winning venue GRUB – throughout October, and there’s loads of spooky classics on the lineup.
But over at the new and neighbouring, Fairfield Social Club, one of the much-loved tradition of a singalong screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is also returning.
Oh, and did we forget to mention there’ll be bottomless drinks? Now we’re talking.
Taking place on the weekend before Halloween, with not one, but two screenings of the classic 70s flick across both Friday 25 and Saturday 26 October, Fairfield Social Club says this is your chance to dress the part, sing the night away in style, and be “chilled, thrilled, and fulfilled”.
Kicking-off in the venue’s huge club space first from 7pm, anyone who grabs tickets for one of the two screenings later this month will be treated to bottomless fizz, mimosas, beer/cider, or non-alcoholic equivalents and soft drinks, for 100 minutes prior to the screening beginning so you can carry on sipping through all while the film’s on.
A bottomless Rocky Horror singalong screening is returning to Manchester this Halloween / Credit: 20th Century Fox
Some of the other films on this year’s lineup during Cutlplex’s STAB Season are sci-fi and supernatural classics such as The Exorcist (1973) and Alien (1979), as well as full-on movie marathons, special spooky one-offs, and other events like quizzes, Q&As, and binging of TV box sets, just to name a few.
Tickets to the Bottomless Rocky Horror Show screenings at Fairfield Social Club on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 October will set you back £25 each, plus a booking fee, and are now on sale.
Daisy Jackson -
1st October 2024 
