How to throw the Ultimate PAC-MAN Birthday Party

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Throw an epic PAC-MAN birthday party with arcade-inspired party décor that will captivate your guests and set the tone for an old-school PAC-MAN party. Get ready for a nostalgia-induced adventure with PAC-MAN themed food, drinks, and favors…nom nom nom.

My daughter is a big fan of what she calls “old school” PAC-MAN and the newer cartoon series “Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures”, so it was befitting that she chose this as the theme for her 5^th birthday.

As a kid of the 80s, this party was a blast to plan and design. The bright bold colors and retro arcade theme is perfect for kids (and those of us who refuse to grow up). I hope you find some unique inspiration to plan your next PAC-MAN party!

Keep scrolling for lots of visual eye-candy, or jump to the end to shop the party goods!

PAC-MAN Birthday Party Table Setting

The bright and poppy colors of PAC-MAN, Inky, Pinky, Blinky & Clyde inspired the color scheme for this party, and since there aren’t a lot of PAC-MAN themed tablecloths available I got creative and used a 1980s PAC-MAN flat sheet as the tablecloth for the dining table and the food table. This really tied everything together for a cohesive look with a bit of vintage nostalgia.

Tip: Use a plain white tablecloth under the sheet, as these old sheets can be slightly sheer.

For the place settings I used vintage PAC-MAN party plates and layered them on top of pink paper plates, then anchored this with felt PAC-MAN placemats that I cut-out myself. Paper napkins and plastic cutlery were added in matching colors.

I used my favorite “everyday” red cups as the water glasses on the table. These Carlisle plastic cups are super sturdy restaurant quality cups, and they worked perfectly to tie in with the color scheme as well as add a little ”pizza parlor arcade” ambience to the table.

The PAC-MAN stir sticks were custom made by Haven Print Company on Etsy. She does amazing work with custom designs.

Since the tablecloth was already a busy print I kept the centerpiece décor to a minimum and just added some retro red and blue glass jar candles. I absolutely love these candles…I remember seeing them at Pizza Hut when I was a kid. These are great for adding some nostalgic glow to the table!

PAC-MAN Birthday Party Food & Decor

Continuing with the color scheme for the food table, I used cake stands in blue, yellow and pink to display the PAC-MAN party foods. I use these for almost every party, and love the fact that they break down for easy storage.

The orange party bucket housed retro bags of popcorn, while the cake stands displayed bowls of “Power Pellets” and “Cherry Bonus Cupcakes” with Haribo Gummy Cherries on top. We also had “Pac Burgers” displayed on yellow lunch trays.

The white pedestal frames were perfect for displaying the food and drink signage which I custom created on Canva.

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Nothing screams arcade, like a little neon…so naturally we needed some neon signs for the walls. I used an LED neon Ghost, Strawberry, and Cherry signs to complete the look. These all had long white cords with rocker switches and a USB plug making it easy to plug them into a multi-port wall plug. I highly recommend!

For the backdrop I used a bright blue metallic fringe curtain. Not only do these backdrops add a dramatic visual, the shiny foil of the fringe backdrop also helps to reflect the light from the neon signs giving the whole room an arcade glow. To see what it looks like in Silver, check out my 80s Theme Party.

Tips for hanging foil fringe curtains:

Plan on having a minimum of two layers to cover your wall properly.
For darker colors against a light wall (and vice versa) I recommend 3 layers of fringe, which is what I used for the dark blue against a white wall. This will adequately cover the wall and you’ll have less white spots showing through.
Trim the bottom of the fringe to just hit the floor. If it is too long it won’t hang straight and create gaps.

PAC-MAN Birthday Party Drinks

It wouldn’t be a PAC-MAN party without some themed drinks, so I created two eye-catching options for guests to enjoy: “Clyde’s Cooler”, a non-alcoholic punch with flavors of orange, pineapple and coconut, and “High Score Sips”, a refreshing cocktail for adults with Tequila, Blue Curaçao, Lime and Orgeat. Both drinks were a big hit, especially the cherry gummy garnish!

PAC-MAN Birthday Party Favors

Since we had guests of all ages at the party, we opted for favor bags that guests could fill with the gift of their choice. A variety of PAC-MAN cookies, PAC-MAN socks and handmade PAC-MAN bracelets were available for guests to pick from. I custom-designed the “Thanks for Playing” cards to tie on each bag.

I used PAC-MAN cookie cutters to make the sugar cookies (my go-to recipe is Alton Brown’s) and made my first attempt at piping the royal icing. After that ordeal I’m more inclined to spring for the $45 cookies on Etsy 😂. They were a labor of love, but they tasted great and looked pretty ok in the end.