“The ghosts are fast and they don’t turn blue.”

Some time ago, I shared a video talking about games that leaned into their bugs and made them part of their lore.

One not listed there, perhaps because it’s the most obvious example, is Pac-Man’s kill screen.

A few weekends ago at an arcade game convention, I spotted something really interesting. It was an arcade cabinet of Pac-Man, but with a twist: The game was modified and set up to start immediately at level 255, with all its challenges: fast timing, very angry ghosts, ineffective energizers.

And once you beat that, you immediately face level 256: the infamous kill screen.

I don’t think I have ever seen anything like this before. It reminded me of this joke someone made once about the olympics: that each competition should begin with the organizers grabbing regular people from the street to participate, just so the viewers can truly realize how impossibly hard those competitions are.

I know a lot of software onboarding starts gently, walking you through basic scenarios to make you comfortable and to have you understand basic concepts. But sometimes I wonder: for professional apps, would it also be cool to start with a really advanced use that would get you excited? A really well-made, complex spreadsheet? A really sophisticated graphic? Instead of gently propping you up, what if the onboarding was about breaking something really complex down?

I played the game a few times. I didn’t finish the level 255, and I never saw the kill screen. But it was a great challenge; if I had more time, I’d definitely spend it trying to make it happen.

#bugs #games #onboarding