QACMAN turns any URL into a playable Pac-Man QR maze, open-sourced with 20x speedup

Developer ezshine released and iterated on the open-source project QACMAN between Sept 8–9: input any text or URL and get a page that is both a scannable QR code and a playable Pac-Man maze, with the code remaining valid after completion. The project drew attention for its clever use of QR error correction to make the code itself the game.

Confirmed

• The core trick uses QR Code's Level-H error correction: after protecting finder patterns and critical data modules, maze paths, dots and power pellets are carved out of tolerable modules, so beating the game completes the encoded content
• Even with many modules occupied by the maze, the QR code remains 100% scannable
• Supports arrow keys / WASD / touch swipe, ghosts with adjustable count, AI auto-play and demo mode, plus screenshot, video recording and web embedding for easy sharing
• The Sept 9 update sped up the generation algorithm by 20x, so large QR codes generate smoothly

Why it matters

• QACMAN shows a creative use of error-correction redundancy: the data medium itself can be interactive content, suggesting a new "playable QR code" format for marketing and event sharing
• Being open source, with embedding and recording built in, lowers the barrier for reuse and spread

2026-09-08 ~ 2026-09-09 · 7 related posts

• QACMAN Turns Any QR Code Into a Playable Pac-Man Maze That Still Scans — ezshine · 2026-09-08
• [source] QACMAN turns any URL into a playable Pac-Man maze that stays scannable — ezshine · 2026-09-08
• [source] QACMAN turns any text into a playable Pac-Man maze that still scans as a QR code — ezshine · 2026-09-09
• [source] qacman turns QR codes into playable Pac-Man mazes with custom skins — ezshine · 2026-09-09
• QACMAN turns any URL into a scannable QR code that doubles as a playable Pac-Man maze — ezshine · 2026-09-09
• QACMAN Turns Any Text Into a Playable Pac-Man Maze That Still Scans — ezshine · 2026-09-09

1 near-duplicate retellings: ezshine