Which of these is closest to Pac-Man?

The first group on this page is ordered with the closest relatives first, so start at the top. Beyond that it depends what you like about Pac-Man - the puzzle and tile games reward reading a board, the card games reward counting and memory, and the dice games put the randomness in the foreground where you can see it.

Are they free, or is there a catch?

They are free in the same way Pacman.free is free: every mode, every daily challenge and every leaderboard, with no paywall, no trial and no download. The card and casino titles use play money only - there is no real gambling in any of them.

Do these open in the same browser tab?

They are ordinary websites, so they behave however your browser is set to behave - nothing here hijacks a tab or opens a pop-up. Each one loads its game directly on the page, with no launcher, no plugin and no install step.

How long does a game take?

It varies enormously. The dice and arcade games are usually done inside five minutes. Card games run ten to twenty. A board game against a thinking opponent can take half an hour, and the tile puzzles take as long as you let them - there is no clock on most of them.

Other Games Worth the Quarter

Mazes are a specific taste: pattern, speed, and a mistake that costs you immediately. If you want something that scratches a neighbouring itch, this page is a shortlist of 19 games worth playing - all free, all instant in the browser, none of them asking you to download or sign up for anything.

Five groups, running roughly from fast to slow. Arcade and puzzle games keep the pressure on. Card games swap reflex for recall. Board and tile games take the timer away entirely. The dice games are honest about luck, and the final entry is a stopwatch with opinions.

Game	Kind	Why it is on this list	Go
Tetris	Puzzle & Arcade	Eleven ways to play the falling-block game, from a calm endless mode to 20G instant gravity.	Play Tetris online →
Puzzle	Puzzle & Arcade	Logic grids, sliding tiles, matching boards and number puzzles - the natural next stop when you want a break from falling blocks but not from thinking.	Play free puzzle games →
Mahjong	Puzzle & Arcade	Match free tiles to clear Turtle, Pyramid, Fortress, Dragon, Butterfly, Cat, Spider, Tower, Gate, Crab and Cross layouts, with a daily challenge and leaderboards.	Play Mahjong online →
Solitaire	Card Games	Klondike, Spider, Pyramid, TriPeaks and the rest of the patience cabinet, dealt fresh each time.	Play Solitaire online →
FreeCell	Card Games	Every card face up, four free cells, and a deal that is almost always winnable if you plan it.	Play FreeCell online →
Hearts	Card Games	Duck every heart and the queen of spades - or take the lot and hand the points to everyone else.	Play Hearts online →
Spades	Card Games	Call your tricks, make your contract and punish the overbid - the partnership card game that rewards counting over luck.	Play Spades online →
Rummy	Card Games	Build sets and runs and go out before your opponents, across the classic Rummy variants.	Play Rummy online →
Gin Rummy	Card Games	The tight two-player Rummy where deadwood management decides every hand.	Play Gin Rummy online →
Canasta	Card Games	Partnership melding with scoring deep enough that people still argue about it.	Play Canasta online →
Blackjack	Card Games	Classic, Vegas Strip, Atlantic City, Spanish 21, Double Exposure, Switch, Pontoon and more - free chips, no real gambling.	Play Blackjack online →
Checkers	Board & Tile	Eleven genuine draughts variants, from the 8x8 standard to flying kings on a 10x10 board.	Play Checkers online →
Reversi	Board & Tile	A minute to learn, and an endgame decided by mobility and parity rather than material.	Play Reversi online →
Dominoes	Board & Tile	Match the ends, count the suits, and work out which numbers the board can still accept.	Play Dominoes online →
Ludo	Board & Tile	The race-home board game in eight regional flavours, with a daily challenge and real-time multiplayer.	Play Ludo online →
Tic Tac Toe	Board & Tile	Three in a row, plus the larger grids and inverted rules where it stops being trivial.	Play Tic Tac Toe online →
Yahtzee	Dice & Casino	The dice-and-scorecard classic, where the upper-section bonus quietly decides most games.	Play Yahtzee online →
Craps	Dice & Casino	The loudest game on the floor, with play chips only and no real gambling.	Play Craps online →
Chess Clock	Tools	A free browser clock that makes draughts, dominoes and Scrabble move a great deal faster.	Use a free online chess clock →

One more run first?

None of this is a reason to stop playing Pac-Man. If you would rather stay, the main game is one click away, the rules hub covers how everything works, and the FAQ answers the common questions.