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The Key is a recurring collectable item in the series. Its usages and ways of getting them vary from game to game.

Maze Style Series

The key first appeared in Pac-Man. It is worth 5,000 points if eaten and it starts appearing from stage 14 onwards until the player gets a Game Over. In the Pac-Man Championship Edition games, it instead gives the player 4,000 points.

In Super Pac-Man, there are 15 keys on each level that can be used to open gates, and each one gives 50 points plus an open gate.

Pac-Man World Series

Pac-Man World / Pac-Man World Re-Pac

In Pac-Man World, keys are used to free the six friends who got captured by Toc-Man. They're hidden in one level of each world, usually behind a Fruit Door that requires the player to get such fruit later in the stage and return on their steps to unlock the door. Unlike other collectibles in the game, keys don't add points to the player's score and they don't reappear in the stage once collected. Keys normally are spent in the following stage where they're found. Keys are a requirement for story progress, since each of the gates keeping the later worlds won't vanish unless you've rescued all the friends in the stages you have unlocked. Also, there is another key known as the Magic Key that can be obtained after the player has a grand score of 1,000,000 points, and allows Pac-Man to unlock any Fruit Door without needing the corresponding fruit.

In Pac-Man World Re-Pac keys behave the same as in the original game, except they're not required to complete the story whatsoever, but they're needed to unlock the game's Best Ending.

Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac

In this game, Keys make a brief return as the special items Pac-Man collects from defeating Spooky's mechas in the Old Pac-Land during the post-game in place of the Golden Fruits. Their use is the same as the fruits, unlocking the further stages of the Old Pac-Land to explore.

Spin-Offs

Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness

In Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness, an assortment of three colored keys are used in the different levels of the game to vanish the Lock Blocks from the mazes, usually to free the way to complete a puzzle or to reach a bonus Fruit. Keys add 1,000 points to the player's score each time one is collected.

When Mesmerelda is defeated for the first time, her Witch Key is collected by Ms. Pac-Man and becomes a permanent item in the player's inventory, allowing them to vanish all the Witch Blocks of the previous stages and granting access to more hidden Fruits and Pac-Dots that were out of reach, needed to get extra Stars.

Super Smash Bros

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the key is the last item to appear during the Bonus Fruit special attack. It is thrown in a straight line and deals the most damage and knockback in both games.

Pac-Man using the key

Bonus Fruit's trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, which features the key

Bonus Fruit's trophy in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, which features the key

Pac-Man using Bonus Fruit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and using the key

Pac-Man using the key in a preview

Trivia

• In the Game Boy (Color) port of Pac-Man, the key's sprite is mirrored in a different direction.
• In the PCG version of the Sharp MZ-700 port of Pac-Man, the key comes in 7 different colors^[1]. They are:
  • Cyan - Levels 13, 20 and onwards
  • Yellow - Level 14
  • White - Level 15
  • Blue - Level 16
  • Red - Level 17
  • Magenta - Level 18
  • Green - Level 19