Pac-Tax its about the vibe

I used to be much more involved in the JavaScript world. Over the years, though, my roles pulled me away from that discipline. I also wrote some solid ActionScript back in the day, when Flash was still all the rage.

That being said, modern JavaScript is really only JavaScript in name. At this point, it is not even just “JavaScript” anymore 😀. What it has evolved into is pretty amazing, especially when you look at its capabilities today.

The idea for Pac-Tax came together while I was neck-deep in a very real, very local accountability battle. This project was born out of my love for classic arcades and my sometimes sarcastic sense of humor.

I wanted to see what kind of results I could get from AI on a non-trivial task, not a toy problem or a demo. What I ended up liking most about this project is that I had to actively push both my usage and my understanding of how to get AI to do exactly what I wanted, and to do it efficiently.

Along the way, I learned real techniques for extracting what I need from the tool instead of fighting it. That alone made the project worth it.

Alt text

  • The entire game is drawn to an HTML5 Canvas element.

  • Input: Keyboard and Touch Friendly

  • Sound: Web Audio API

  • Persistence: Local High Scores

  • No Backend Required

I was kind of amazed by what I was able to accomplish. The things I already knew directly complemented what the tool could do. I was genuinely impressed by how much I achieved once those strengths lined up.

I would not call it easy, but the end result is an actual, playable game that lives in a single HTML file, runs well on both PC and mobile, and that is just cool.

Right now, I have a bunch different projects in various states: one enterprise-focused, two Grav plugin–focused, and one follow-up to Pac-Tax. I am sure something else will sneak in before those are done. What still feels a little wild is that I am confident I will actually complete all of them, even though they span different languages, different stacks, and different disciplines.

Yeah. Force multiplier.

Anyway check it out its really not a bad PacMan clone at all I am pretty happy with it.

▶ Play Pac-Tax Now
A single-file HTML5 game, keyboard or touch, no backend required.

On mobile swipe anywhere on the screen, PC the arrow keys get it done.

Launch the game, lets play →

Thanks for Playing!😁 -Christian

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