Ghosts in the original 1980 arcade classic Pac-Man do not randomly wander the maze, as each possesses a distinct, hard-coded artificial intelligence routing protocol.

A closer look

Ghosts in the original 1980 arcade classic Pac-Man do not randomly wander the maze, as each possesses a distinct, hard-coded artificial intelligence routing protocol. Blinky aggressively chases your exact position, Pinky aims four tiles ahead to ambush you, Inky uses a complex vector based on both your position and Blinky's, and Clyde just wanders off to the corner like an absolute idiot when he gets too close. It is a stunning piece of vintage programming that perfectly simulates a highly coordinated tactical strike team saddled with one completely useless nepotism hire. Instead of running from random pixel monsters, you were actually being hunted by the 1980s equivalent of a Silicon Valley middle-management nightmare, systematically boxing you into a corner while stealing all your digital fruit