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.
Manchester to celebrate National Play Day next week with 100+ FREE activities for families
Emily Sergeant
Manchester is set to celebrate National Play Day next week, and there’ll be more than 100 free activities for families to join in with.
You may remember that Manchester City Council announced it would be bringing 14 weeks of free activities for children to parks across the city this summer, as Parktastic returned by popular demand with everything from sports, games, arts, and crafts, to dance, drama, nature activities, storytelling, and messy play to get stuck into.
And now, a packed programme of activities to celebrate National Play Day – which is taking place this year on Wednesday 5 August – has been revealed.
There’ll be whole series of free events taking place right across the city on a drop-in basis throughout the day – with more than a hundred different activity sessions taking place in the city’s parks, libraries, community centres, and youth clubs.
PLAY DAY is in one week!
Wednesday 5 August
All FREE
🤾🏽Outdoor games 🎪Bouncy castles 🎨Arts &Crafts ⚽Sports coaching 📚Poetry Trail 🤹🏽Circus Skills 🚴🏻Bikes and more!
Activities for children of all ages, across the city
— Manchester City Council (@ManCityCouncil) July 29, 2026
Families can also head on down to two big Family Fun Days taking place on the day – one at Platt Fields Park, and one at Boggart Hole Clough.
Activities will run from 11am through to 2pm at both parks, and will include things like sports coaching, circus skills, cycling taster sessions, live demonstrations, storytelling, and a range of other interactive and hands-on experiences.
National Play Day is actually a country-wide celebration of a child’s right to play, but the day has a special significance for Manchester this year, coming off the back of the city earning recognition from UNICEF as a Child Friendly City last month.
Manchester is celebrating National Play Day next week with 100+ free activities for families / Credit: Manchester City Council
“Having fun and playing with other children is such an important part of growing up and helping children and young people of all ages to gain confidence and develop their skills,” commented Councillor Julie Reid, who is the Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People at Manchester City Council.
“We’re very lucky in Manchester to have so many fantastic parks, playgrounds, and sports and leisure facilities across the city for our children and young people to enjoy, as well as amazing libraries, galleries and museums right here on our doorstep.”
Cllr Reid said Manchester’s National Play Day on Wednesday 8 August will be offering ‘a whole host’ of different activities for young people to get involved in and enjoy.
You can find out everything happening on the day here.
Featured Image – Artem Kniaz (via Unsplash)
What's On
Co-op Live appears to tease major Mariah Carey Christmas gig sending fans into a frenzy
Emily Sergeant
All we want for Christmas… is Mariah Carey in Manchester.
And maybe, just maybe, our Christmas wish might come true very soon, as Co-op Live has taken to social media today to tease its next gig announcement with its hundreds of thousands of followers, and without jumping to conclusions, it does appear to be hinting at the queen of Christmas herself making an appearance.
Look, we know it’s only July and right in the middle of summer, but even if you think it’s too early to be talking about the festive season, you have to admit that the potential of Mariah Carey coming to Manchester is worth getting excited any time of the year.
The US pop powerhouse last performed in our city nearly a decade ago now when she brought her famous All I Want For Christmasshow to the UK for the first time ever, taking to sold-out Manchester Arena stage on 10 December 2017.
Mariah has not performed in Manchester since, but all that could be set to change as Co-op Live has hinted that an announcement is ‘coming soon’.
Taking to its official social media platforms today, Co-op Live posted a very festive-themed AI video of snow falling on the arena as the camera zoomed in and the instrumental of Mariah’s absolutely iconic hit ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’ playing in the background, and the caption hinting at the song’s title too.
Of course, we could be wrong, it might not be Mariah at all, but if the 300+ comments from fans in a frenzy thinking the same as us are anything to go by, it’s looking like we might be right.
“The countdown to Christmas is on,” Co-op Live said in its video, before letting fans know that they would be getting some form of confirmation soon.
Daisy Jackson -
1st October 2024 
