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Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D action platformer game in the Pac-Man and United Galaxy Space Force (UGSF) series, based on the concept of the original Pac-Man game. The game is developed by Bandai Namco Studios and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, released in commendation of Pac-Man's 45th anniversary and Namco's 70th anniversary^[1]. It is the first Pac-Man-related game to be part of the UGSF timeline.

Compared to previous Pac-Man material, Shadow Labyrinth departs from the usual colorful, family-friendly tone of the series and features a dark sci-fi, violent and gritty take on the original Pac-Man arcade game's concept. Due to the nature of the game's theme and environment, it lacks the Pac-Man name in its title (although Pac-Man's likeness can still be seen in the letter "O" of the game's logo). It is also the first game in the UGSF timeline that emphasizes the timeline's games and stories, particularly emphasizing the integration of Xevious into the game's world, another Namco game previously not part of the timeline. The game incorporates Pac-Man maze gameplay with "Metroidvania" combat and platforming.

The game was teased on the Pac-Man social media accounts a day prior to The Game Awards 2024, and then formally announced at show. The game was released in Japan on July 17, 2025, with an international release the day following on July 18, 2025. Prior to the game's release, the game's story was adapted into the prequel short film "Pac-Man: Circle" for the Amazon Prime series Secret Level.

Plot

Prologue

In the year 3300^[2], a UGSF spacecraft is attacked by several members of the Unknown Intellectual Mechanized Species (UIMS). A powerful mech known as Panzer G.A.I.A. is unleashed to counter the invading enemies. Once the apparent threat is eliminated, the spacecraft prepares to descend onto a nearby planet. Suddenly, the spacecraft is attacked by a UIMS Commander that seeks to destroy G.A.I.A. itself. Although G.A.I.A. puts up a good fight against the enemy, its efforts turn up fruitless as the Commander withdraws to launch a Wave Cannon, destroying both the mech and the ship it's on. Shortly afterwards, an unknown individual on the planet's surface witnesses the ruined spacecraft making its fiery descent through the planet's atmosphere. Later, in the year 3333^[2], an unnamed human uses a handheld console in a bustling city at night. The unnamed human vanishes as his soul is transported through space.

Arrival

A seed-like object known as an Oloid drags the human soul to an unknown planet and leads it into the body of "Number 8," the latest in a series of artificial beings known as the Swordsman. The Swordsman awakens after the stasis chamber containing his body is opened. Once he steps out, he is greeted by PUCK, a PAC-type Support Func-Bot who chooses him to the agent of her will. She gives the Swordsman an HP Tank and tells him to use it to restore his health, which he does. PUCK assumes the role of the Swordsman's guide in the Remote Prison.

The duo then make their way to a sword stuck inside a monster skeleton. PUCK tells the Swordsman to grab the sword, but when he tries to, the sword emits an ESP barrier that prevents him from doing so. PUCK is at a loss on what to do when the Oloid suddenly appears, summons a metal prosthetic arm called "ACTIV," and gives it to the Swordsman. ACTIV allows the Swordsman to penetrate the ESP barrier and pull the sword out of the skeleton. On the way towards escaping the prison, the duo encounter a Braj Zakato, and defeat it. After its defeat, PUCK fuses with Swordsman for the first time, turning his body into a shadowy monster that eats the remains of the Braj Zakato. Arriving at Barren Volcano, Swordsman and PUCK rest in an abandoned shell. During their rest, PUCK has a dream where she fails to reach her relative, Aegina. After waking up, the duo resume their journey, unaware that a masked girl is watching them. During their expedition inside the volcano, Swordsman and PUCK are soon ambushed by the masked girl, who attempts to put a stop to the duo's journey by summoning her battle armor. The duo best the masked individual, who then flees back to her unknown leader. Deeper inside the volcano, the duo find the remains of the abandoned mech GAIA, a battle armor mech that PUCK had been seeking for 30 years. Before the duo can recover the mech, the orange G-HOST, Garbage Talos, awakens from its slumber and assembles its body with GAIA. The duo defeat the G-HOST, which abandons its slimy body and flies away in an energy-like ball. The duo eat GAIA, reviving the mech, and escape for the outer fields.

Proceeding forward towards PUCK's destination, the duo arrive at the Sky-high Tree, where they encounter Paul Jones, an ally that helps Swordsman grasp the power of his ESP Sword. In the tree, the duo barge through the ravenous Balra guardians opposing the duo and destroy Night Gale, a robotic beast. Arriving at the Torn Lands, PUCK shows Swordsman a massive tower and explains her goal to him; an all powerful entity is residing within the planet, and it is her goal to activate the tower, which is a giant spear, to pierce through the adversary. PUCK had summoned Swordsman from another world and used her own material to summon him into the planet; in her state, she cannot use weapons and as such she must rely on Swordsman to finish the mission. Now noting of the mission at hand, the Swordsman and PUCK proceed towards the tower.

The Mission

In the Torn Lands, PUCK unites with a fellow UGSF robot called PAC-NYX-00446, nicknamed "Nick", whom is associated with the highly-classified operation Sheyenne GAIA. Nick guides the duo down to a secret passage, which leads to a large tunnel towards the entrance of a mine operated by Balra. Resting at a spot within the tunnel, the masked girl from Barren Volcano returns, trying to convince Swordsman to join her until PUCK interferes; the masked girl then vanishes. Venturing downwards, the duo notice Nick in the underground, who runs away. Swordsman and PUCK follow pursuit to a pit, where Nick betrays the group and traps them with the Balra boss Wilem Ong; before Nick can escape the scene, Wilem Ong fatally damages Nick with a sword blow, knocking him out. After the duo defeat and eat Wilem Ong, Nick apologizes to the duo, who wished to use Wilem Ong to gather ESP energy to revive his fallen master before collapsing due to the damage.

Swordsman and PUCK arrive at the Giant Black Tower, making their way to the top of the tower. Inside the tower, they are ambushed once again my the masked girl from earlier, who begs for them to not activate the tower. Resisting against the girl, the girl attacks Swordsman and PUCK once again. The duo defeat the masked girl once more, causing her holographic mask to vanish and reveal her face, also clearing a part of her mind from the enemy force. The duo continue towards the top of the tower while the girl remains resting in the tower, confused on her purpose and whereabouts. The duo are soon encountered by the tower guardian Jupiclops, which attacks the duo but is soon defeated and eaten. Reaching the top of the tower, PUCK, revealing her true identity as Commander Thebe from the United Galaxy Space Force Central Command. PUCK requests the reactivation of G.A.I.A. As the tower does not have enough energy to use the Super Blaster Drill needed to pierce through the enemy, PUCK instead requests the limited Star-Line connection to communicate with her commanding officer at the United Galaxy Central Command. Requesting a new strategy from her commanding officer as Sheyenne G.A.I.A. lost much of its energy needed to complete the operation, her commanding officer denies PUCK and informs to her that the Star-Line connection would be used to forcefully inject energy into Sheyenne G.A.I.A., which would cause G.A.I.A. to self destruct and create an opening into the planet; the operation would destroy the planet they are on, planet Xevious. PUCK shows hesitation to the given operation until her commanding officer scolds her, telling that her sister would have not hesitated. The commanding officer orders the deactivation of the tower's E.N.D. Shield and uses Star-Line to send energy for self-destruction. Before the energy can be received, the girl from earlier appears - shortly after, the enemy force shows itself to the three and uses Extra-Dimensional Tremors to warp planet Xevious away to another point in space and prevent Star-Link connection from the UGSF Central Command. The enemy force, having used the girl to locate and damage the tower, disposes of her and summons the UIMS Commander, using a Wave Cannon to discharge the tower and send Swordsman, PUCK and the girl plummeting to doom. Before the Wave Cannon hits, Swordsman acts on his own and holds onto the girl before getting hit, holding onto her as they plummet.

An Oloid follows the plummeting trio, using its energy to save the trio from fatal damage. The trio end up falling inside a trash pit, awakening after the fall. The girl thanks Swordsman for protecting her, though PUCK becomes distraught over the failure of the mission. The girl and PUCK ensue in a brief argument over the mission, resulting in the girl fleeing again. PUCK, then apologizing to Swordsman for the troubles, tells Swordsman her background: PUCK is an android that belongs to an organization called the United Galaxy Space Force (UGSF), an army dedicated to protecting humanity from extraterrestrial threats; one of its current objectives is to destroy an all-powerful entity known as Gamp. The UGSF had determined that Gamp's core was located within the interior of planet Xevious. PUCK's goal was to use Sheyenne G.A.I.A.'s energy to pierce through the planet and reach Gamp's core, but it can no longer be realized as Gamp had warped the planet away from the UGSF Central Command's radar to provide energy. Unsure on how to proceed, the duo instead resort to finding clues within the Land of the Fugitives.

The Plan

Heading down a cave, the duo are apprehended by the Bosconian clan residing nearby. Brought to the Bosconian Village, the base of the Bosconian army, the Chief of the Bosconians becomes aware of their intent to use the Giant Black Tower. Before she can put a stop to them to protect her people from Gamp, the clan is soon found under attack from Gamp's underground mobile fortress, Nandnot Guileness. PUCK strikes a deal with the Bosconian Chief to destroy Gamp's incoming forces in exchange for Bosconian Antimatter to be used for the tower's energy supply. The duo make their way inside the fortress, finding the Pink G-HOST controlling its core, Guileness Laia. After its defeat, the Pink G-HOST flees and activates the fortress' self destruct sequence, with the Oloid arriving to protect the duo shortly afterwards. They then return to the Bosconian Village, earning the trust of the clan. The Chief reveals that they had apprehended another suspect that wished to interact with Swordsman and PUCK, revealed to be the same mysterious girl from earlier. After PUCK attempts to convince the girl that she is brainwashed, the Bosconians suggest the group to battle in their arena, which they then ensue in. Defeating the girl once again, PUCK once again tries to get the girl, named Thebe, to her senses and believe that Gamp had brainwashed her; Thebe ends up running away trying to not be convinced that she is brainwashed, and flees the village. After pleasing the Chief, the group formulate their plan to use Sheyenne G.A.I.A.'s drill to pierce through the planet and create an opening through the Uh Bacura, the layer of durable metal that protects Gamp's stronghold, Startend Guileness. Realizing they don't have enough energy with the Village's Bosconian Antimatter alone, the Bosconian Chief suggests two energy sources: the Spark-Bit in possession of the UIMS Commander, and the Dimension-Warp Capsule in possession of Emperor Galaga. Swordsman and PUCK set off to locate both of them. Through their adventures, the duo encounter the two other members of Baglus: Katja and the Professor.

Approaching the Door to the Abyss, the duo once again encounter Paul Jones, whom reveals himself to be a member of a secret organization known as Baglus. P.J. offers his techniques to the duo to help them in their mission to destroy Gamp. During the travels, the duo are ambushed by the G-HOST Bug, which warps the surrounding area and hides within the MAZE plates after being hurt. The Oloid appears once again, giving the Swordsman's sword the ability to activate such plates, allowing him and PUCK to enter their respective MAZEs. By completing MAZEs, the duo are able to collect Ghost-shaped symbols and other unique items. The duo continue their mission. eventually locating Emperor Galaga residing within The Throne, with the Bragza that had possessed him fleeing the scene upon Swordsman's arrival. Swordsman and PUCK find Emperor Galaga in an aging state, having been cast aside by the Bragza after serving his mission. Emperor Galaga surrenders himself to the duo, allowing himself to be devoured and have the Dimension Warp Capsule taken. In search for the UIMS Commander, Swordsman and PUCK travel through various locations, defeating various enemies and guardians throughout the planet. In a certain location within the Tombstone of the Fallen Soldiers, the duo defeat an Electro Bubble and find a Nanobite creature enclosed within a box. PUCK decides to bring it back to the Bosconian Village and leaves it in the care of the Chief's daughter, Anpulane. Upon reaching the Space Battleship, the Swordsman and PUCK battle through Gamp's forces and confront the UIMS Commander, which is being puppeted by the Red Bragza as a G-HOST. Swordsman and PUCK defeat the Commander after a brief escape, with its Bragza fleeing the scene afterward. The duo eat the fallen Commander to obtain the Spark-Bit.

The Truth

With the three energy sources finally obtained, Swordsman, PUCK and the Bosconians formulate a plan to reactivate Sheyenne G.A.I.A. First, the Bosconian Chief hands over the Village's last supply of Bosconian Antimatter. As the Master Reactor had been damaged by the UIMS Commander, they instead resort to using the three Slave Reactors located within the tower. Reaching the damaged but usable Main Console, the energy is activated and the duo must travel down to the underground sub-console to activate Sheyenne GAIA. Before the duo can leave, however, Thebe, who had slipped past the ship's security thanks to her resemblance to PUCK's 16-year-old self, confronts them once more. Thebe summons a shadowy orb that consumes both PUCK and herself. Once they are both inside, Thebe plays a recorded voice isolated from the UGSF Central Command, in which her commanding officer rants on Thebe's incompetence in complying with the mission, believing that Thebe is an incompetent substitute for Aegina, her sister. Thebe continues to convince PUCK that the UGSF and Aegina hate her, causing PUCK to become distraught and lose her mind. The ensuing event allows Gamp to fuse PUCK and Thebe into the Dark Bragza, creating the Dark G-HOST. After a brief brawl, Gamp commands the Dark G-HOST to destroy Sheyenne G.A.I.A.'s core. While the Swordsman chase after the G-HOST, the Oloid follows him, showing him various fragments of Thebe's past. The Swordsman confronts and defeats the Dark G-HOST, separating Thebe from the Bragza's control; however, PUCK remains trapped inside the Dark Bragza as she is still in distress over her status as a substitute. Swordsman uses his ACTIV to pierce through the Bragza and destroy it, freeing PUCK and synchronizing the minds of PUCK and Thebe. Both halves apologize for their behavior, but they still wish to see the mission through. Thus, the trio, along with Anpulane, head to the sub-console underground. Anpulane then leaves the trio to commence the operation. PUCK fuses with Swordsman to devour Thebe, combining the three to restore Thebe's complete form. Thebe orders the reactivation of Sheyenne G.A.I.A., initiating the Super Blaster Drill. The tower pierces through the Uh Bacura, revealing Startend Guileness, Gamp's hidden stronghold. Thebe splits back into Swordsman and PUCK as they head through the tip of Sheyenne GAIA, to enter the stronghold.

Finale

Exiting through the tip of Sheyenne G.A.I.A., PUCK tells Swordsman her plan to destroy Gamp: she would use GAIA's self-destruct system to destroy Gamp; since three commanding officers are needed to activate it, she would instead manually override the mech and sacrifice her life. Swordsman agrees to help take down Gamp in a final push, and the duo head down with the help of the Oloid. Outside the stronghold, the duo fight the remaining Minions within Startend Guileness' MAZEs before confronting the four Bragza, whom now take on monstrous forms to defend themselves. As each Bragza is defeated, the four Algo Towers surrounding the fortress' core are discharged. Once all four are deactivated, the entrance to Gamp's lair is revealed. Just as the duo are about to enter to warp gate leading to Gamp, the Oloid suddenly speaks, revealing that it had been watching PUCK and the Swordsman since the very beginning of their quest. Entering the gate, Swordsman and PUCK come face-to-face with Gamp himself. Gamp, attempting to convince PUCK that he is their "salvation," confronts the trio and attacks them with his "eyes," Kas Elm and Zep Elm. After defeating them, PUCK fuses with Swordsman to eat the eyes. However, after they separate, PUCK ends up becoming infected by Gamp's energy and falls under his control again, this time turning GAIA against Swordsman No. 8. Gamp intends to activate GAIA's self-destruct sequence early, thereby nullifying the weapon; fortunately, the Swordsman manages to defeat Infected GAIA, freeing PUCK in the process. Gamp then summons the four Bragza to end the duo. This frustrates PUCK, but the Oloid quickly reminds her to use the technology they found in the MAZEs. The Swordsman activates the Ghost Symbols, weakening the Bragza significantly, and then proceeds to vanquish them all. Enraged, Gamp warps PUCK, the Swordsman, and the Oloid into the Astral Field, a higher dimensional space that was created by the bio-computer himself. Gamp takes on the semblance of a large humanoid and proceeds to attack his foes. After a long battle, Swordman and PUCK defeat Gamo, exposing his true form. The duo them fuse into GAIA and activate its self-destruct form, codenamed Operation Panzer G.A.I.A. Core. Swordsman No. 8 and PUCK, the latter transforming into Thebe, stand against Gamp to activate Panzer GAIA. Before the mech is activated though, Gamp unleashes an energy wave that knocks the Swordsman unconscious. Fearing the worst, Thebe loses her composure, giving Gamp an opening to finish her off. Before he can, however, the Oloid reveals itself to be Aegina, Thebe's sister, and shields the group from Gamp. Thebe uses this time to attempt to wake up the Swordsman once more. The Swordsman awakens, firing his ESP Sword as a missile that destroys Gamp's shield and stuns him. With three commanding officers available, the Swordsman, Thebe, and Aegina activate Panzer G.A.I.A., turning G.A.I.A. Core into a familiar form that chomps Gamp before bursting into a blinding white light. As the self-destruct explosion occurs, Thebe pleads for Aegina to save the Swordsman in her stead.

Teleported away in the space above planet Xevious, Swordsman and Thebe are saved by Aegina. The extra-dimensional spacecraft Sheo Nite appears, the ark of Baglus. Aegina tells Thebe that the explosion had sent Gamp into a long slumber that will last several dozens of generations, restoring peace to the planet. Aegina also tells her sister that she is part of the organization Baglus; an organization dedicated to eradicating Gamp from the United Galaxy. Gamp has six replicas in total across the galaxy, and Baglus will not rest until every Gamp replica is defeated. Paul Jones, Katja and the Professor turn into their Oloid forms and follow Aegina as the mission on planet Xevious has been completed. Aegina invites Thebe to join Baglus, having earned her trust and proven a worthy soldier. Before departing with her sister, Thebe opens a portal to the Swordsman's origin world. Thebe thanks Swordsman for his help and offers to return him to his original world at the cost of erasing all his memories of the adventure. In response, the Swordsman silently stares into the portal. A post credits scene offers a glimpse at the same bustling city from the beginning of the game. A handheld console can be seen lying on the ground, but its owner is nowhere to be found.

Gameplay

Shadow Labyrinth is a 2D "Metroidvania"-style action platformer where the player controls the unidentified Swordsman No. 8 through the planet Xevious, guided by the Func-Bot PUCK, in order to defeat an a formidable adversary. Swordsman No. 8 must use his sword to defeat the numerous monsters residing within the alien world. By defeating enemies, the Swordsman and PUCK collect gold nuggets known as Ora, which can be used to upgrade abilities or purchase equipment. Swordsman has a hit point (HP) bar, prominently displayed on the top left corner of the screen; which decreases as he is hit by enemy attacks or certain terrain such as spike pits or lava. The amount of damage Swordsman takes depends on the strength of the enemy attack/terrain. If his HP is fully depleted, the Swordsman will disintegrate; the player must choose to respawn at the last checkpoint (Miku Sol) or save point crystal they touched. The Swordsman can also perform defensive attacks such as dodging and sliding, with most actions consuming the ESP limit bar below the HP bar. The bar decreases when moves such as dodging and ESP attacks are performed; if depleted, the Swordsman will overheat and will temporarily not be able to perform any ESP consuming moves. The ESP bar recharges over time.

The game does not have a set path on progression, allowing the player to explore the game world in any order, though there are some areas where the player will need certain moves acquired from defeated bosses in order to proceed further.^[3] Across the world, the player will encounter two different types of save points. When activated, Swordsman is restored back to full health and can respawn at the point should Swordsman be defeated. Each area has several kinds of save points, classified in two kinds: Simple Miku Sols (check points crystals) that simply restore the Swordsman back to full health (and HP Tanks as of version 1.1.0) and act as a checkpoint when killed, and Miku Sols (check point crystals with a save orb) which have the same functionality as crystals; but can be used to upgrade/equip powers, and teleport across other activated Miku Sols in the world. Approximately 1-3 (up to 5 after version 1.1.0) Miku Sols are present in each area of the planet.

Throughout the game, Swordsman will encounter several bosses that take large amounts of damage to defeat, also encountering several key characters throughout the story. Upon defeating major bosses, PUCK will takeover Swordsman's body and summon a shadowy monster resembling Pac-Man that feasts on the defeated boss' corpse, gaining new actions/moves in the process. Some of these include Swordsman powering up PUCK to become the fighting mech GAIA, becoming temporarily invincible and being able to deal increased damage for a short time. GAIA's energy (known as DP) periodically depletes overtime, and also depletes when damage is inflicted on GAIA. When GAIA's energy is fully depleted, the mech will shut down and transform back into the Swordsman and PUCK. In order to gain the energy necessary to use GAIA again, the player can temporarily summon a holographic GAIA that devours any nearby dead or stunned enemies; although this move uses ESP, it also gathers Materials for the player, which are used to craft various items and/or upgrades. Across various points of the world, there are several blue electric walls and ceilings called D-Lines that can be traversed by having Swordsman ride PUCK in Mini-PUCK mode, which allows the player to control PUCK in gameplay with controls similar to the boss fights in Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus 2P. Mini-PUCK can jump across platforms and can quickly switch back to Swordsman to attack enemies. PUCK cannot transform into Mini-PUCK if she is performing another action, such as using GAIA. A trajectory guide can be activated during gameplay to indicate Mini-PUCK's jumps, to better indicate where Mini-PUCK will jump.

Other powers are also unlocked throughout the game by defeating bosses, most of which are necessary in order to proceed further. Other powers including acquiring the ACTIV shot, which can be used to defeat certain enemies such as Pooka and Fygar and can be used as a grappling hook, double jumps, mid-air dodges and more. The player can also find several items across the world

At any time, the player can open a map indicating of their surroundings and current position, covering areas the player has previously visited. On the map screen, a limited number of map markers can be manually placed to indicate points of interest; more map markers can be obtained or purchased by ally characters. The map also covers major areas such as enemy ambush areas, key points, unobtained items and unopened barriers. If the player has an Emergency Escape Device, the player will be able to warp to any kind of Miku Sol within the world regardless of their position; though there may be some events where the item cannot be used, such as enemy ambushes. Areas in which the player has obtained all collectables

In versions 1.1.0 and later, the game adds a difficulty selection option. Difficulty selection can be altered on the title screen or when interacting with Miku Sols.

• Veteran Mode is the standard mode of gameplay.
• Explorer Mode is an easy difficulty option that increases the base statistics of Swordsman and GAIA and adds more assistive features:
  • Swordsman and GAIA’s base attack power is drastically increased.
  • Action speed is increased.
  • Swordsman and GAIA are immune to enemy collision damage.
  • ESP energy consumption is reduced.
  • ESP energy recovery increases when Swordsman is crouching,
  • GAIA’s energy becomes fully recharged immediately after returning to Swordsman.
  • Should the player die more than 3 times, a warp point appears to let the Swordsman skip past difficult terrain sections,
  • Tenacity Mode is an additional optional toggle that becomes available when Explorer Mode is enabled. When Tenacity Mode is enabled, Swordsman’s base attack power increases upon consecutive deaths. During Tenacity Mode, Swordsman’s cloak will be colored red. The attack power of the Tenacity Boost can also be manually set by the player.

MAZE mode

Following the encounter with the G-HOST Bug in Door to the Abyss, the Swordsman's ESP Sword is revealed to have the ability to activate MAZE panels, allowing him and PUCK to enter MAZE mode. MAZE mode features gameplay largely inspired by the Pac-Man Championship Edition series, especially Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus 2P.

The main goal in the MAZE mode is to guide Mini-PUCK to clear the maze sections and defeat the Boss before the timer runs out, normally timed at 5 minutes. As with classic Pac-Man gameplay, the player guides Mini-PUCK through the D-Line mazes while avoiding awakened Minions. The jumping mechanics are heavily prioritized in this mode. If Mini-PUCK touches an unweakened Minion or Boss, the player will be briefly stunned and lose a life. If all lives are lost, MAZE mode ends, and the player is sent back to the main world.

In the first and non-boss sections, the main goal is to eat all the DOTs within the MAZE. Transparent items such as DOTs or Fruit are highlighted, indicating their imminent appearance once certain thresholds are met. Certain MAZE sections contain Power DOTs that are revealed after eating all the DOTs in that section. Once Mini-PUCK eats a Power DOT, the tables turn, and all Minions on-screen are weakened, allowing her to eat them. Once a certain amount of Minions within the current MAZE section are eaten, a Fruit will appear, allowing the player to progress to the next stage. If the player collects the Fruit before the timer above it runs out, they will earn an extra life.

Across MAZE sections, Mini-PUCK will also encounter maze walls that can be loosened by either eating all DOTs surrounding them or jumping off them; some maze walls will turn into different colors after the Dots surrounding them are consumed. Normal Blocks (Purple) reveal themselves after all the DOTs surrounding them are eaten; they explode once a Minion touches it. Shift Blocks (Blue) loosen after all the surrounding DOTs are eaten. In the center of the Block is an arrow that indicates the direction it will move in after loosening. Kick Blocks (Yellow) will have its moving direction change based on Mini-PUCK's location on it, launching in that direction once all the DOTs surrounding it are eaten and Mini-PUCK jumps from the block. Push Blocks (Green) also act like Kick Blocks, but launch in a fixed direction; they are usually reserved for use against Bosses. Push Blocks also respawn after a period of time. Minions hit with Blocks become weakened and can then be eaten to progress.

Aside from Power DOTs, there are two other power-ups that can appears in MAZEs: Mini-PUCK Force and Decoy. The Mini-PUCK Force greatly increases Mini-PUCK's eating range, allowing her to collect DOTs or chomps hordes of weakened Minions. The Decoy provides a red decoy that can be placed on MAZE walls; once it is set, it will attract any pursuing Minions towards it.

Beginning around the halfway progression mark of the MAZE game, a Boss will appear. To damage it, Mini-PUCK can eat red Attack DOTs, consume weakened Minions, or push Blocks into it. Once it loses half of its health, the Boss itself becomes weakened, allowing Mini-PUCK to attack it directly. The Boss will enter a daze after it is damaged enough; while it is in this state, Mini-PUCK can repeatedly bash into it to finish it. Upon losing all of its health, the Boss explodes into multiple Minions that Mini-PUCK subsequently gobbles in rapid succession. This marks the end of the Boss battle. If there is any time remaining after this point, the game will shift to Bonus Time, where Mini-PUCK must collect as many Fruit as she can before time expires.

MAZE mode ends either when the player loses all of their lives, runs out of time, or collects 200 Fruit during Bonus Time. The MAZE is considered completed if the Boss is destroyed; otherwise, the player must try again. If the MAZE is successfully completed, the number of lives remaining, Fruit collected, and Minions eaten are tallied up on a progress bar; when certain thresholds are met, special rare items (or Ora if those items have already been collected) such as PERKs or the super rare material New Space Order are awarded for use in the main game. Full completion of a MAZE is achieved once the progress bar is completely filled. Once the rewards are collected, MAZE mode concludes, and the player is sent back to the main game.

Startend Guileness, the final area of the game, has four MAZEs to complete, and they possess some special attributes. Unlike the rest of the game's MAZEs, these ones don't have Bonus Time; after their respective Bosses are defeated, they are considered cleared, and the player is sent back to the main game. These MAZEs normally unlock access to the boss fights against the four Bragza; however, in version 1.1.0, a feature was added that allows players to skip these MAZEs should they have difficulty completing them.

Characters

Playable characters

Character	Name	Description
	Swordsman No. 8	The main protagonist, Swordsman No. 8, also simply referred as the Swordsman or Number 8, is the eighth of several souls summoned from another world; possessing the nanobyte humanoid body. Awakening with no memories of his past life and unable to speak, PUCK guides the silent Swordsman across planet Xevious, intent on having him complete a purpose for her. The Swordsman platforms across various landscapes and uses his ESP Sword to defeat enemies and come across various surfaces. The Swordsman also uses his prosthetic metal gauntlet arm, ACTIV, to use its sword and platform across various landscapes.
	PUCK	Swordsman's main companion, PUCK is a PAC-type Func-Bot from the United Galaxy Space Force that chooses Swordsman No. 8 as the instrument of her will, with the straightforward and aggressive intent on having Swordsman finish Operation Sheyenne. It is later revealed that PUCK is a form taken on by Thebe after she had wasted most of her Nanobite Material trying to summon a helper. PUCK generally hovers around the Swordsman, collecting materials that are destroyed from structures or enemies. PUCK also fuses with the Swordsman to power-up and perform various supportive attacks or forms, such as summoning the powerful mech armor GAIA or summoning a demonic monster resembling Pac-Man that devours large boss characters. PUCK can also carry Swordsman in Mini-PUCK mode, travelling across D-Lines and platforming across them; PUCK can also quickly switch back to Swordsman's fighting attacks while on D-Lines, and can be charged with ESP energy for specific ESP attacks. Mini-PUCK is also the central focus in the MAZE mode.
	GAIA	GAIA is a prototype fighting mech fueled by the combined power of Swordsman and PUCK, originally a defense mech used by the UGSF. Although it is powerful enough to be considered a superweapon, it requires a large amount of energy to operate. GAIA uses its claws to deal increased damage and hit stun to enemies and is able to jump higher than the Swordsman. GAIA protects the Swordsman from damage, but its energy depletes when receiving damage from enemies. GAIA can also traverse safely through dangerous terrain and/or obstacles such as lava, steam, fire, acid and spiked terrain. Some puzzles within the world can only be completed using GAIA, such as traversing through acid or moving large objects. Upon upgrading and recovering powers, GAIA can also charge a beam that consumes all its energy to destroy strong pink barriers and deal massive damage to enemies. A holographic GAIA can also be summoned while controlling Swordsman to devour on defeated enemy corpses and harvest the material of the enemy.

Non-playable characters

Character	Name	Description
	Tzade (Anzey)[4]	A Bosconian woman who tends to travel across the planet in search of wares in the Barren Volcano, where she sells items to the Swordsman in exchange for Ora and Material. After reaching the Bosconian Village, she moves to her own shop on the top of Barren Volcano, where she sells more items.
	Paul Jones (P.J.)	A cloaked humanoid man who is part of the organization Baglus, as well as the previous owner of the Swordsman's ESP Sword. Paul gives the Swordsman with new ESP moves as he defeats bosses throughout the world.
	Nick	A PAC-type military Func-Bot that survived Operation Ragnarok. He helps PUCK and the Swordsman by showing them an entrance into Torn Lands' mines. Although he claims to be on their side, he actually intends to use them so he can complete a goal of his own.
	Chief (Asemandafu)[5]	The leader of the Nevia tribe of Bosconians, the Star Destroyers. She forms an alliance with PUCK and the Swordsman, allowing them to use the Bosconian village as a hub area.
	Anpulane Aincaff (Pulae)[6]	The Chief's young daughter, created as a clone of the Chief's genetics[7]. She will give the Swordsman rewards in exchange for Sparkling Stones, and also acts in support to Swordsman on his journey.
	Splow (Marwaff)[8]	An elderly Bosconian woman once part of the Bosconian Destroyers class, but has since retired to take on rear guard duties.[9] Splow runs the Bosconian Village shop and sells items to the Swordsman in exchange for Ora and Material.
	Tzadelef (Jaque)[4]	A Bosconian woman who specializes in gathering intel. She provides hints about rare enemies, hidden items, and other secrets in exchange for Ora.
	Aey Laengear Salsalae (Aey-sey)[10]	A Bosconian woman in the Destroyer class of the Bosconian tribe, in charge of maintaining the Bosconian Village's Arena, where the Swordsman can re-fight bosses he has already defeated.
	Katja	A cloaked, masked humanoid who is part of the organization Baglus, residing in the Crystaline Palace; Katja will upgrade the Swordsman's Slash attack if given ESP Capacitors.
	Professor	A cloaked humanoid part of the organization Baglus; the Professor will unlock new attacks for GAIA if given GAIA Material.
	Emperor Galaga	The aging leader of the Galaga who resides within The Throne. He holds the Dimension Warp Capsule and surrenders himself to the Swordsman.
	Goomie	A bizarre creature found in Tombstone of the Fallen Soldiers. Once it is taken back to the Bosconian village, it will beg to be fed certain Material. Fulfilling its requests three times will unlock a secret.
	Thebe	An android Galaxian woman who served as part of the United Galaxy Space Force Central Command. She was assigned to execute Operation Sheyenne, a secret initiative with the goal of destroying Gamp. Following the failure of Sheyenne and its successor, Operation Panzer, Thebe decides to use her own Nanobite Material to summon a helper; however, all of her attempts were fruitless. Due to losing much of her Material, Thebe was forced to morph her body into the form of a PAC-Type Func Bot, eventually adopting the moniker "PUCK". After her seventh attempt at a summon failed, part of Thebe's consciousness split from her body and soon fell under Gamp's influence. This fragment of Thebe was granted a new body and began spying on (and repeatedly fighting) the Swordsman and PUCK at the supercomputer's behest. Eventually, Thebe is freed from Gamp's brainwashing and willingly fuses with PUCK to restore her true form.
	Aegina	The sister of Thebe, part of the organization Baglus; an organization dedicated to destroying all the Gamp replicas in the galaxy. Aegina appears throughout the game in the form of an Oloid, supporting the Swordsman by guiding and protecting him. through his journey by sending Oloids that give him special equipment, She eventually reveals her true form during the final fight against Gamp.

Enemies

The Swordsman encounters many enemies as he and PUCK traverse the planet. When an enemy is killed, its corpse or deactivated body will linger on screen for a few seconds before disappearing. If the Swordsman uses Predation on a corpse, PUCK will consume it and collect the Material it is made of. The kind of Material that the Swordsman receives depends on the enemy it is collected from. Additionally, most defeated enemies will drop Ora that can be collected, with the exact amount that is dropped also depending on the type of enemy that was defeated.

Bosses

There are two types of bosses in Shadow Labyrinth: Strong Foes and Area Bosses.

Strong Foes

Strong Foes are mid-bosses found in various locations across the game. Some of these bosses are unique to one specific area while others can be found in two. Like regular enemies, Strong Foes drop Ora when they are defeated. In addition, the Swordsman can use Predation to collect Material from them when they are dead or stunned.

Area Bosses

Area Bosses are major bosses, distinguished by a splash screen that displays their name before the fight starts. Most areas in the game contain one Area Boss, though some have two or even none at all. Unlike Strong Foes, Area Bosses do not provide Ora or Material upon defeat, nor will they ever respawn. After they are killed, PUCK will fuse into Swordsman to feast on the corpse of the defeated boss, with most Area Bosses eaten granting the Swordsman a new move or item that helps him to progress through the game.

Certain Area Bosses can be also re-fought in the Arena; beating these bosses within a time limit will reward the Swordsman with Bosco-Medals, which can be traded for special prizes. Repeat fights within the arena will not grant additional Bosco-Medals or prizes.

Boss	Appears in	Description	Power/Item awarded after first defeat
Braj Zakato	Remote Prison	A spherical robot that attacks by slamming into the ground and firing spheres of energy.	M-Phase Shift
Thebe	Barren Volcano, Giant Black Tower, Land of the Fugitives	A mysterious humanoid woman that dons fighting armor similar to the Andor Genesis. Thebe repeatedly pursues Swordsman and PUCK across the land to prevent them from interfering with Gamp.	N/A
Orange G-HOST: Garbage Talos	Barren Volcano	A G-HOST formed from various pieces of scrap metal and GAIA's core, possessed by the Orange Bragza.	G-Phase Shift, Predator
Night Gale	Sky-high Tree	A cyborg Megatheleon that is worshipped by the Balra. It attacks the Swordsman with its claws and teeth.	Midair Dodge
Wilem Ong	Torn Lands	A giant Balra warrior who serves as his people's chief. In addition to attacking with his sword, he can also summon more Balra to overwhelm the Swordsman.	Parry
Jupiclops	Giant Black Tower	The security robot that blocks access to the top of the Tower. It performs electrical attacks, such as firing lasers or creating dangerous electric fields.	ESP Barrier
Pink G-HOST: Guileness Laia	Frontline Base	A G-HOST formed from the core of the Nandnot Guileness; it is controlled by the Pink Bragza.	ACTIV Shot
G-HOST Bug	Door to the Abyss, various locations thereafter	A glitched G-HOST that tries to bite the Swordsman.	Rage
Lord of Gluttony	Crystalline Palace	A giant toad-like creature that is able to jump mid-air. It spits out blobs of saliva that form temporary walls when they hit the ground.	Double Jump
Jen Hybri	Bosconian Ruins	A giant humanoid resembling the slasher Rick from Splatterhouse.	Jen's Mask
Dionechinda	Thanatos Valley	A giant flower that produces poisonous fumes when threatened. It also attacks the Swordsman with its vines.	Poison Resistance
Galb Webb	Labyrinth of the Giant Tree	A giant Infected Balra warrior with a rhino's horn protruding from the parasite on its head. He attacks the Swordsman with his gigantic hammer-like staff.	ESP Quake
Plegeoite	Broken Smelting Furnace	A dragon-like turtle creature that breathes fire and attempts to pierce the Swordsman using its long horn.	D-Field Cannon
Goomie	Land of the Fugitives	An experimental creature that was abandoned by the UGSF. After it is fed the right Material, this seemingly innocent animal transforms into a winged beast. It attacks the Swordsman by spitting out acid, firing bolts of electricity, and rolling towards him.	Slash Power
Red G-HOST: UIMS CDR	Space Battleship	A G-HOST formed from the UIMS Commander that attacked Panzer G.A.I.A.; it is controlled by the Red Bragza.	Spark-Bit
Dark G-HOST: Thebe	Sheyenne G.A.I.A.	A G-HOST formed when Gamp fused PUCK and Thebe together with a Dark Bragza.	N/A
Red Bragza: Terrias-Gilba	Algo Tower of Hand	The true form of the Red G-HOST; it takes on the appearance of a monstrous creature with abnormally large hands.	N/A
Blue Bragza: Terrias-Juno	Algo Tower of Man	The true form of the Blue G-HOST; it takes on the appearance of a lanky humanoid with a long tail.	N/A
Orange Bragza: Terrias-Valou	Algo Tower of the Bird	The true form of the Orange G-HOST; it takes on the appearance of a bird-like creature.	N/A
Pink Bragza: Terrias-Boz Rag	Algo Tower of the Earth Dragon	The true form of the Pink G-HOST; it takes on the appearance of a lizard-like creature.	N/A
Kas Elm & Zep Elm	Xevious Gamp Replica	Two robots that serve as Gamp's "eyes." They are capable of firing powerful lasers.	N/A
Infected GAIA	Xevious Gamp Replica	GAIA while under the control of Gamp. Its attacks are taken from its normal moveset.	N/A
Red, Pink, Blue, & Orange Bragzas	Xevious Gamp Replica	The four Bragzas that manifest the G-HOSTs seen throughout the game. They attack by firing projectiles. A set of special items is able to weaken them.	N/A
Xevious Gamp Replica	Xevious Gamp Replica	An enormous humanoid-esque form taken on by Gamp. It utilizes its arms for its attacks. Occasionally, it will produce purple spheres that can be consumed to power GAIA.	N/A

Areas

The world of Shadow Labyrinth is composed of several areas discovered in a non-linear path.

• Remote Prison
• Barren Volcano
• Sky-high Tree
• Torn Lands
• Giant Black Tower
• Land of the Fugitives
• Frontline Base
• Door to the Abyss
• Crystalline Palace
• Bosconian Ruins
• Thanatos Valley
• Labyrinth of the Giant Tree
• Broken Smelting Furnace
• The Throne
• Tombstone of the Fallen Soldiers
• Space Battleship
• Sheyenne G.A.I.A.
• Startend Guileness
  • Algo Tower of Hand
  • Algo Tower of Man
  • Algo Tower of the Bird
  • Algo Tower of the Earth Dragon
  • Xevious Gamp Replica

Items

Across the world, there are various items that the Swordsman encounters to restore themselves or permanently upgrade various statistics, as well as items that contain logs from specific people within the world, giving in-depth looks into the lives of their writers.

PERKs

PERKs are various types of patches that can be equipped by Swordsman, PUCK and GAIA, enhancing their capabilities. Each PERK features a different function and takes up several notches accordingly.

This article is a stub. You can help this wiki by repairing or expanding it.

Material

Material is obtained from enemies and Strong Foes by using Predation on them once they are stunned or defeated. There are multiple different kinds of Material in the game, and the kind of Material that the Swordsman gets from Predation depends on the enemy he used it on. Material is necessary to purchase PERKs from shops and to unlock boss fights in the Arena.

This article is a stub. You can help this wiki by repairing or expanding it.

Achievements

Shadow Labyrinth features 19 (20 trophies on PlayStation 5) achievements, classified in bronze, silver and gold. Prior to the 1.1.0 update on Steam, the achievement descriptions contain a special quote in regards to the achievement instead of clearing conditions; the unlocking conditions have since been added to the descriptions for each achievement.

Downloadable content

Shadow Labyrinth features two sets of DLC which can be accessed through the game upon acquiring them through their respective storefronts:

• Digital Artbook and Soundtrack: This unlocks the "Digital Artbook and Soundtrack" mode on the game's title screen, allowing the player to view concept art for the game alongside a sound player of the game's music as the player views the artbook. This DLC is included with the digital deluxe edition of the game.
• Original Arcade SFX: This unlocks the classic sounds option in the options menu, which replaces the Pac-Man Championship Edition sound effects heard with their respective original Pac-Man counterparts. This will also cause the Game Start and Coffee Break jingles to play when entering and finishing a MAZE. This DLC was included as a free bonus for those who had pre-ordered the game.

Development and release

Conception and development

Shadow Labyrinth was developed by Bandai Namco Studios, beginning development on the project in 2020 during Pac-Man's 40th anniversary, simultaneously with Pac-Man World Re-Pac and Pac-Man Museum+. Seigo Aizawa, who previously produced Pac-Man 99; produced Shadow Labyrinth alongside Katsuhiro Harada, who previously produced several games in the Tekken series. Tomoaki Fukui, who previously directed games such as Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, directed Shadow Labyrinth.

Executive producer Toru Takahashi (overseeing previous Pac-Man works such as Pac-Man Championship Edition and Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures) had came up with the idea of creating a Metroidvania-style Pac-Man game to appeal to core gamers, as an initiative to introduce new audiences to Pac-Man had begun in 2020. Before approaching Pac-Man producer Seigo Azawa on the idea, Bandai Namco Studios had already begun working on a 2D action platformer game without Pac-Man elements. Following the request, Pac-Man was implemented into the Metroidvania prototype, and the team desired to incorporate Pac-Man elements with a dark setting. In order to create a basis for the project, the Bandai Namco Studios team brainstormed and boiled down the original game and series into three fundamentals: “the maze concept, the eat concept, and how the table can flip all of a sudden.”^[11] Shadow Labyrinth takes inspiration from Metroidvania indie games such as Hollow Knight and Cave Story.^[12][13] In an internal message from Takahashi, Toru Iwatani mentions he was "on-board" with the Pac-Man being adapted into a dark metroidvania setting.^[14][15] Game design was initially prioritized over Pac-Man elements, as the game team had struggled to incorporate Pac-Man elements into the Metroidvania prototype.

One of the initial ideas involved "ghosts putting their heads on animals like gorillas, possessing them, and turning them into monsters," but the team had struggled to incorporate other Pac-Man features into the game. Hisaharu Tago, serving as the current director for Namco's United Galaxy Space Force (UGSF) timeline series^[16], was brought on to the project and applied sci-fi designs on the Pac-Man elements, also taking influence from a previous project, New Space Order; a cancelled Namco game. While the game originally did not incorporate Namco references and games within the UGSF timeline, Tago used the sci-fi influence to incorporate the UGSF timeline and its games into the game's world, making it central to the story while also not attempting to alienate new audiences who have minimal to no knowledge of UGSF media. Klonoa series character designer Yoshihiko Arai designed Swordsman and PUCK, taking influence from Klonoa, noting how the characters are summoned from another world (in the Swordsman's case, in the perspective of the player) and have surrounding Pac-Man imagery; comparing PUCK to Klonoa's Pac-Man cap. The roles of Swordsman and PUCK are considered to be a reversal of Pac-Land's presentation, where the player controls Pac-Man helping a Fairy; in this case, the player controls Swordsman helping PUCK.^[17] The mech GAIA was designed after the Jersey Devil.^[18] The game's scenario was written by Go Tanaka, who had previously worked on Tales of series games and Namco Anthology 2^[19]. UGSF fan artist natuame provided designs for several mech and battleship designs.^[15]

Much of the game's structure is cited to be built off Namco's classic arcade games outside of Pac-Man, including games such as Dragon Buster and Baraduke as part of the original Namco's then upcoming 70th anniversary. As a metroidvania-esque game, the game was designed to be a challenging game; largely taking influence from Namco's Family Computer (Nintendo Entertainment System) games. Playtesting and development was conducted via online Zoom meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[20] During development, the developers implemented a death penalty mechanic, but was removed upon largely negative feedback from playtesters.^[21]

The game's MAZE minigames were directed by Tadashi Iguchi, previously working as director of the Pac-Man Championship Edition series. The MAZE minigames were conceived following a request from Toru Takahashi to integrate Pac-Man maze gameplay within the game.^[20] The designs of the MAZE minigames take influence from the Pac-Man Championship Edition series as well as other pinball games designed by Toru Iwatani such as Gee Bee, Bomb Bee, and Cutie Q.^[22] The game's music was composed by Katsurō Tajima, previously having worked on sound for Pac-Man Museum and the Super Smash Bros. series.

The game was designed as a complete and long experience, with a minimum length of 30 hours and no post-launch DLC planned.^[12][23], notably longer than any other Pac-Man game previously released. Like Museum+ and World Re-Pac, the game was developed in the Unity engine.

Marketing

While Shadow Labyrinth was in production, Amazon MGM Studios had proposed Secret Level to Bandai Namco Entertainment; in a request from Bandai Namco for Secret Level to create a story based on Pac-Man, intent on creating an adaption based on the family-friendly Pac-Man.^[24] Upon receiving the proposal, Bandai Namco proposed the then in-progress Shadow Labyrinth to the Secret Level producers to see if they were interested in using the game as an inspiration; this would result in the Secret Level team's direction to shift to Shadow Labyrinth and would result in the creation of the prequel story, "PAC-MAN: Circle".^[11]

According to Segio Aizawa, the producer of Shadow Labyrinth, there were internal debates at Bandai Namco as to if the "Pac-Man" name should be used in the game's title or not. It was ultimately decided not to use the name, both to market the game to a new audience (i.e. non-preexisting Pac-Man fans) and to separate it from the family-friendly nature of the Pac-Man series otherwise. Knoah Piasek of Bandai Namco Entertainment America also commented that the game would garner a notoriety of being "that crazy, dark Pac-Man game" regardless of its title.^[25] Shadow Labyrinth was not considered a risky title per Bandai Namco Entertainment CEO Nao Udagawa, but was what the studio desired to make.^[26] While Shadow Labyrinth was not initially conceived as an anniversary title, the branding of the 45th anniversary promotions being themed around "making an impact" ("Make ImPACt") made the development team believe it would be fitting around the themes of the 45th anniversary.^[27]

On April 2, 2025, a Nintendo Switch 2 version of the game was revealed during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, launching both as a separate package and as a free upgrade for owners of the Nintendo Switch version of the game. On May 2, 2025, three tiers of special editions of the game were announced, each including bundles of merchandise. These are the Digital Deluxe Edition, the Secret Edition, and the Collector's Edition. On May 21, 2025, the game's Championship Edition 2 Plus 2P-style mazes were publicly revealed; in addition, the red, blue, and green G-HOSTs were also showcased for the first time. A closed playtest on Steam ran from June 13, 2025 to June 23, 2025; featuring a limited portion of Shadow Labyrinth's world spanning four major areas. Players had 15 minutes to explore as much of the demo as possible.^[28]

On August 6, 2025, world designer Hisaharu Tago began to post Shadow Labyrinth trivia on his personal X (Twitter) page^[29], which would eventually move to the official Shadow Labyrinth pages and website on September 17, 2025.^[30] Shadow Labyrinth trivia blogs were posted weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until March 23, 2026, with a total of 77 entries covering various character details before and after the events of the game, world features, references to Pac-Man and Namco games and other weapon details.^[31][32][33]

On October 28, 2025, version 1.1.0 was announced to address criticized aspects of the game through community feedback and was released on November 11, 2025^[34]. Version 1.1.0 adds an easy difficulty option known as Explorer Mode to the game, more Miku Sols through the world, full HP tank restores when visiting a Simple Miku Sol, a tutorial sequence for MAZE mode, additional jumping controls and tweaked movement for Mini-PUCK during MAZEs, reduced MAZE mode score requirements, more Bonus Fruit in mazes, the ability to skip the MAZEs in Startend Guilness upon failing once and checkpoints during the fight against Gamp.^[35][36]

Reception

Critical reception to Shadow Labyrinth has been mixed. Averaged scores on Metacritic have scored an average metascore around 63 (PC) to 73 (Switch and Xbox Series).^[37]

IGN's U.S. branch did not finish their Shadow Labyrinth review by the game's release date, insinuating that the game's story was so "cryptic, slow, and frankly boring" that it was hard to get through; they would later score the game 5 out of 10.^[38] Despite this, IGN Spain would score the game an 8/10.^[39]

While criticism was drawn for Shadow Labyrinth's drastic departure from the main Pac-Man series by fans, this was not considered as a detractor in most professional critics' reviews. However, some publications would criticize Shadow Labyrinth's lack of resemblance to "Pac-Man: Circle", stating that the game's sci-fi tone did not accurately match the Secret Level episode.^[38]

Trivia

• Shadow Labyrinth is:
  • the first (and currently only) Pac-Man video game to receive a T rating by the ESRB. ^[40]
    • Though it is the first game in the Pac-Man series to receive said rating, Pac-Man has previously been featured in several T-rated video games such as Street Fighter X Tekken, Namco Museum (2017), and Fortnite.
  • the first Pac-Man console video game to be developed in-house at Bandai Namco Studios (or any direct branch of Bandai Namco) since 2018, following the release of Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus.
  • the first Pac-Man video game to feature an upgrade pack/plan for a next generation video game console.
  • the last Bandai Namco game to feature involvement from Katsuhiro Harada before his departure from Bandai Namco at the end of 2025 to form the SNK Corporation subsidiary SNK VS Studio.
• Prior to announcement, the game was first trademarked in August 2023.^[41]
• Shadow Labyrinth is connected to the animated short film "Pac-Man: Circle", an episode of the Secret Level anthology series. The episode is a direct adaption of Shadow Labyrinth, acting as a "prequel" to the game.
  • Thebe's Memories makes mention of the past failed attempts and Swordsman No. 7 from the short. In a promotional animation released on Pac-Man social media, the seventh Swordsman's symbol is shown encapsulated in the same tube from the short.^[42]
  • Some of the enemy characters that appear within the adaption are based on enemies that exclusively appeared in early development versions of the game, some of which do not appear in the final game.^[43]
  • Marketing material before Shadow Labyrinth's announcement implied that the Pac-Man episode was a wholly-original adaptation based on the original Pac-Man arcade game. However, the Secret Level episode was actually based on Shadow Labyrinth (rather than the other way around); which had not been announced at the time, and had mentions of it sidestepped until the game's official announcement (which occurred two days after the episode's release).^[44]

• 

  Shadow Labyrinth takes place in the UGSF (United Galaxy Space Force) timeline, a canon curation of various Namco space-themed games which was established following the release of Galaxian³: Project Dragoon in 1990.^[45] While Shadow Labyrinth prominently features characters inspired by Pac-Man, the game also features multiple references to various other Namco games, animations and media, including those not within the UGSF timeline.
  • Shadow Labyrinth makes the game the first addition to the timeline since Shin-Gun Destroy! Girl's Tank Battalion, a Japan-only mobile game which released in 2014 and shut down in 2016.
• In the city present at the beginning of the game, one of the billboards displays the game's main cover artwork.
• Shadow Labyrinth features several references to various Pac-Man and Namco games.
  • As the game adapts Pac-Man into the UGSF timeline, multiple elements originating from the game and series are present:
    • Multiple sound effects originating from the original Pac-Man are featured, based on their Pac-Man Championship Edition counterparts.
    • When the Original Arcade SFX DLC is enabled, the game start and coffee break jingles will play in addition to the original sound effects replacing the Championship Edition versions.
    • PUCK is named in reference to Puckman, the initial Japanese title of the original Pac-Man arcade game.
    • When transforming into GAIA, the Swordsman briefly morphs into a sphere resembling a Power Pellet; PUCK eats this sphere before turning into GAIA.
    • G-HOSTs, parasitic organisms that control several bosses, are based on Pac-Man ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky, Clyde, and Funky (as well as the minion ghosts).
      • The Dark G-HOST is reminiscent of Sue and Spunky.
      • The G-HOST Bug takes influence of the Map 256 Glitch and Glitchy.
    • The MAZEs feature music from the Championship Edition series. These tracks can also be heard when approaching the panels that lead to the MAZEs.
    • Some of the MAZE layouts within Startend Guileness feature the same maze layouts from Pac-Man Championship Edition games.
    • Symbols resembling Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde's original arcade sprites appear as a series of special items. They are obtained by clearing score thresholds in each MAZE.
    • The year the game takes place in, 3333, is, in part, a reference to the original Pac-Man's internal production number at Namco (Pac-Man had the development code number V3).^[46]
    • On the game's key art, the moon on the top left sports a Pac-Man silhouette. The large MAZE shown also features a layout similar to the original Pac-Man maze.
    • The souls that PUCK had summoned before Swordsman No. 8 are represented by the Bonus Fruit in the order of the original game: the failed attempts included Number One (Cherry), Number Two (Strawberry), Number Three (Orange), Number Four (Apple), Number Five (Melon) and Number Six (Galaxian) and Number Seven (Bell). Swordsman No. 8 is represented as the Key.
    • In Sky High Tree, the MAZE room features platforms giving the allusion of a Ghost.
    • In Door to the Abyss' back side, the room features a layout resembling a Scared Ghost and the numbers "256", referencing the 256th round.
  • Multiple elements originating from the Xevious series are present:
    • A replica of Gamp, a recurring antagonist within the Xevious games, appears as the overarching main antagonist of the game.
    • The Baglus organization characters; Paul Jones, Katja and the Professor (Dr. Bacula) alongside the ESP Sword first appeared in the 1985 Japan-only novel adaption Super Adventure Game Xevious. Compared to the book, the characters are shown to have aged significantly during the timeframe between the book and Shadow Labyrinth, now depicted in their elder years.^[47]
    • The world, Planet Xevious, is named after the series.
    • The Xevi language, made specifically for the series, is prominently featured throughout the game, depicted on various signs, plates and energy readings.
    • Several music tracks incorporate the leitmotif from the original Xevious (i.e., its background music), including the jingle for receiving a special item or ability, approaching a Miku Sol and one of the boss themes.
    • Thebe dons armor that is based on the Andor Genesis, a recurring spacecraft in the series that acts as a boss.
    • Operation Sheyenne and Operation Panzer, two military operations that are relevant to the game's story, are named after early titles for Xevious.^[48]
    • Zakato and Brag Zakato, two enemies from the original Xevious, appear as enemies. In Shadow Labyrinth, they are referred to as "Xevian Teleporters" and "Xevian Crackers" respectively.
      • The boss of Remote Prison, Braj Zakato, is also based on the Zakato.
    • Four multi-colored Brazga appear, as the true form of the G-HOSTs that appear in the game. The "G-HOST" name is a codename for "Gamp Host".
    • The spacecraft Sheo Nite appears at the end of the game, and is referred by name multiple times by the members of Baglus.
  • References to the Bravoman, Dig Dug and Mr. Driller series are made:
    • Pooka and Fygar from Dig Dug appear as special enemies. The only way to destroy them is to inflate them with the Swordsman's ACTIV Shot.
      • When approaching and attacking Pooka and Fygar, music and sound effects from Dig Dug can be heard.
    • In the room containing the sub-console for Sheyenne G.A.I.A., the logo for the Driller Association can be seen on the wall in the background.
    • The ACTIV Shot references Dig Dug's pump and Bravoman's stretchy arm attacks.^[49]
  • Multiple references to the Galaxian series are made:
    • The Galaga from Galaga appear as enemies.
    • The attract sequence quote from Galaxian, "We Are The Galaxians: Mission: Destroy Aliens" is quoted through the Sunset achievement and during the climax of Gamp's fight.
    • The Dimension Warp Capsule, an item obtained from Emperor Galaga, comes from Galaga '88.
    • The game's final four MAZEs feature music from Galaga Legions and Galaga Legions DX.
    • The title of "Emperor Galaga" was first used in Galaga Legions' entry in the UGSF timeline.^[50]
  • Multiple references to Bosconian and its sequels are made:
    • A clan of Bosconians appears as a supporting character tribe.
      • The Bosconian race is also referred as the "Star Destroyers", referencing the tagline on the game's attract screen.
    • Imagery used by the Bosconian tribe feature a symbol of the Enemy Base from said game, which had also been used in Final Blaster.^[51]
    • The Bosconian Ruins area is made out of a destroyed shell from an Enemy Base.^[52]
    • The year the game takes place in, 3333, is, in part, a reference to the internal production number of New Bosconian, a cancelled sequel to Bosconian (New Bosconian had the development code number V33).^[53]
  • The Unknown Intellectual Mechanized Species (UIMS), an enemy force that first appeared in Galaxian³: Project Dragoon, is present.
    • As its name suggests, the UIMS Commander of Comanders (also known as Supreme High Commander) is a high-ranking UIMS Commander, a subset of the UIMS that first appeared in Starblade.^[54]
    • The Supreme High Commander's design is based on a UIMS Commander that would have appeared in Galaxian³, a cancelled game that would have been released on the PlayStation 3.^[55]
  • The design of Jen Hybri, one of the game's bosses, pays tribute to Rick from Splatterhouse.
  • New Space Order—a rare Material that can be collected only through completing MAZEs—is named after New Space Order, a cancelled real-time strategy game originally intended to be released in arcades, which was test marketed between 2007 and 2009. Aspects of the cancelled game are also part of the UGSF timeline, which includes a story that appeared as a Flash visual novel.
  • Multiple elements from the delisted Japan-only mobile game Shin-Gun Destroy! Girl's Tank Battalion appear:
    • Aegina, a character that first appeared in said game, appears as a major character and as the sister of Thebe.
    • ACTIV — the prosthetic arm used by the Swordsman — first appeared in the game.
  • Multiple references to The Tower of Druaga are made:
    • The achievement artwork for Turmoil is represented by Gilgamesh, the game's main character.
    • "Babylonian Rhapsody", a track from Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 Plus that remixes several songs from the game, is featured as background music for one of the MAZEs.
    • The key art for Shadow Labyrinth takes inspiration from the promotional flyer artwork for the game. It also takes cues from the flyer artwork for Dragon Buster. ^[56]
• In the game's main key art, Swordsman No. 8 is looking towards Gamp's hidden stronghold.^[57]

Gallery

Promotional Artwork

Game cover art

Game logo

Main key art

Shadow Labyrinth version of the Pac-Man 45th anniversary logo

Screenshot of Swordsman and PUCK approaching Giant Black Tower

Stitched version of photo collage posted on the Shadow Labyrinth Instagram page, via the official Pac-Man Discord server

Promotional countdown artwork from Pac-Man artist Hideki Tanaami, featuring Pac-Man, Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde being ambushed by PUCK's shadow form

Promotional countdown artwork from Klonoa character designer Yoshihiko Arai ("7/11 GUST NOTCH" in Xevi language), featuring Klonoa and Huepow

Promotional countdown artwork from Code Vein II art director Koichi Itakura, featuring the Swordsman and the Code Vein II protagonist

Promotional countdown artwork from Tales of series artist Minoru Iwamoto, featuring Thebe

Promotional countdown artwork from Mr. Driller series artist Minoru Sashida, featuring Mr. Driller (Susumu Hori) and Dig Dug (Taizo Hori)

Promotional countdown artwork from Tales of series artist Daigo Okumura, featuring Thebe and PUCK

Promotional launch day artwork from Shadow Labyrinth and Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada, featuring the Swordsman and Reina from Tekken 8

Merchandising artwork

Shadow Labyrinth Trivia artwork featured in the final trivia article 76.5, featuring an ensemble of many of the game's characters

Character artwork

Swordsman No. 8

PUCK

PUCK

GAIA

GAIA

Thebe

Thebe

Concept art

Introductory art for the artbook.

Concept art for the opening act.

Concept art for the summoning of Swordsman No. 8 and Remote Prison

Concept art for Remote Prison and Barren Volcano

Concept art for Sky High Tree

Concept art for Torn Lands

Concept art

Concept art for Bosconian Ruins

Concept art for Bosconian Village

Concept art

Concept art for Thanatos Valley

Concept art for Giant Black Tower and Sheyenne G.A.I.A.

Thebe

Swordsman No. 8

Swordsman No. 8

Swordsman No. 8

PUCK

PUCK

Thebe

Thebe

Thebe

Pooka and Fygar

Height chart

References

External links

• North America website
• Japan website
• News section featuring Shadow Labyrinth Trivia blogs (Japanese)
• Official Twitter account (Japanese)
• Official Instagram account