Gallery: The Top 15 Spots to Play Pac-Man in Google Maps
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED01Untitled-1
[Lombard St., San Francisco](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lombard+Street/@37.802139,-122.41874,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x808580e66bb70f81:0x10d3ce0ac1ec1299): Of course we had to include San Francisco’s *second* crookedest street, even if the rest of this map is fairly pedestrian. Pac-Man is the fastest object to have ever swerved down Lombard without crashing.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED02Untitled-2
[Vermont St., San Francisco](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Vermont+St,+San+Francisco,+CA/@37.7595713,-122.4040164,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x808f7e350f4d604b:0x10bf8371dddf3be8): Local secret: Lombard isn’t the crookedest street in SF. Tucked in Portrero Hill, between 20th and 22nd on Vermont, is an even crazier stretch of road. It's that mess over on the left.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED03Untitled-3
[Diamond Heights, San Francisco](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Diamond+Heights,+San+Francisco,+CA/@37.741946,-122.4390428,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x808f7e736863d191:0xb5b05163599c8c19): This is what Pac-Man levels would look like if they were based on spaghetti thrown at a wall. The lack of straight lines or any sort of grid make this location a must-play.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED04Untitled-4
[Simonds Loop, The Presidio](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Simonds+Loop,+Golden+Gate+National+Recreation+Area,+San+Francisco,+CA/@37.7958359,-122.4496649,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x8085872c8089949d:0x3989790fad5a2c9b): The Presidio is heavenly. It smells great. Playing this location in Google Maps Pac-Man is hell on earth. It smells like sulfur.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED05Untitled-5
[Washington Square Park, San Francisco](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Washington+Square+Park/@37.800918,-122.410111,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x808580f1a98e88a1:0x24c815888a8a9ff0): This location has it all: Traditional Pac-Man-like grid patterns, the diagonal double-dot interruption of Columbus Ave, and a kidney-shaped loop around the park. Don’t eat the hippies on the lawn.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED06Untitled-6
[Gramercy Park, New York](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Gramercy+Park,+New+York,+NY/@40.7380854,-73.9864732,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c2590a1a5fa631:0xfc4f216868510bd2): On to New York City. In real life, you need a key to get into Gramercy Park. In Pac-Man, you can just waltz right in. Getting to the key level is still a good run, though.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED07Untitled-7
[Central Park's Wagner Cove and Loeb Boathouse](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wagner+Cove/@40.7749,-73.973263,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c2588d1825a4c1:0x70ed8cf621f3dd83): As long as you don’t go there at night, a leisurely stroll through Central Park puts the mind at ease. Not so with this Google Maps Pac-Man level, thanks to loop-de-loops, hellish criss-cross patterns, and paths that get you side-swiped by ghosts.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED08Untitled-8
[Central Park's Great Lawn and Softball Fields](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Arthur+Ross+Pinetum/@40.783488,-73.966657,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c2589a14ae0fb3:0x43cc43dbabf21de7): If you play this one right, you’ll have Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde chasing you around in circles. Just beware of that dead-end side nub (which leads to Delacorte Theater in real life).
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED09Untitled-9
[Rikers Island, New York](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rikers+Island,+New+York,+NY/@40.7920531,-73.8817847,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c2f5709046dedf:0x79738d4e275ea5b7): You never want to find yourself on Rikers Island in real life. In Google Maps Pac-Man, though, it makes for surprisingly easy escapes.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED10Untitled-10
[SoHo/Tribeca, New York](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hudson+St+%26+Vestry+St,+New+York,+NY+10013/@40.7226129,-74.0081326,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89c259f4ea45930b:0x155b5c679d66df43): You are Pac-Man. You just got off the A train at Canal St. Can you make it to Sushi Azabu without getting jacked by ghosts? Or filling up on dots before you can eat that omakase?
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED11Untitled-extra
[Boston Common](https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Boston+Common+Frog+Pond/@42.355884,-71.065684,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e3709fb6fddd07:0xb7b6ab43c1f5e2e0): Welcome to Boston, a city that eschews grid patterns and provides the most mind-bending boards in the realm of Google Maps Pac-Man. Is that a Trivial Pursuit piece?
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED12Untitled-11
[Harvard Square](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Harvard+Square/@42.373532,-71.11896,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e37742bc65ca79:0x59ca183286a63b76): How about these apples? Dude, you gotta be wicked smaht to get through this intricate yahd without giving up the ghost. Wicked smaht.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED13Untitled-12
[Fenway Park, Boston](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fenway+Park/@42.346676,-71.097218,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e379f63f253f6f:0xa2800dcb647a5504): After winding through the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and the Back Bay Fens, take a left on Lansdowne and grab an Italian sausage with peppers from a street vendor. You’ll smell it a mile away.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED14Untitled-13
[Consulate of Chile, Brighton, MA](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Consulate+of+Chile+in+Boston/@42.338892,-71.146044,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e3784d5f430589:0x7f157fe8a6b215a7): How are you supposed to get to that street in the lower right corner? I’m seriously asking. I have no idea.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED15Untitled-14
[Schick Park, Brookline, MA](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Schick+Park/@42.335988,-71.133618,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89e379aff0f782e3:0xa795e9a9419d758a): You can’t play Google Maps Pac-Man in the Boston area without having at least one concentric-circle urban planning nightmare in the mix. This is it.
Screenshots: Tim Moynihan/WIRED16Untitled-15
Bonus! [San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge](https://www.google.com/maps/place/San+Francisco+%E2%80%93+Oakland+Bay+Bridge/@37.79828,-122.377818,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x8085801340812af3:0xaefcbcab029ee553): Time to just ease back and rack up some points. The bridge connecting San Francisco to the East Bay is a festival of easy dots, ghost-eating, levelling up, and high scores.
