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PAC-MAN Arcade

A working brick arcade cabinet that actually chases ghosts around a maze.

4.3/5

Set 10323 · 2023

Pieces2,651

Minifigs1

Year2023

Set number10323

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The verdict

If you fed a pile of quarters into a PAC-MAN cabinet back in the day, this one is going to make you grin.

It's a genuinely clever LEGO® set with a hand-cranked mechanism that scoots PAC-MAN and the ghosts around the screen, and it looks the part on a shelf. The catch is the price and the fact that the mechanism is a five-minute novelty, so buy it for the nostalgia and the display, not because you'll crank it every day.

Best for: Nostalgic adult builders who want a display piece, not a playable game

The full review

What it is

PAC-MAN turned 40-odd years old and LEGO teamed up with Bandai Namco to build it a proper monument, and honestly they nailed the brief. This is a mini replica of an upright arcade cabinet standing about 32cm tall, complete with the marquee, the control panel, a coin slot that lights up, and a working 4-way joystick you can actually wiggle. It's part of the grown-up Icons line, so it's aimed squarely at people who remember the real thing rather than kids. The headline trick is the mechanism inside: turn the handle on the side and PAC-MAN glides across the maze while the ghosts chase him, all driven by a hidden chain system rather than any batteries or motor. It sits at a solid 4.3 out of 5 with the Brickset community, and most reviewers call the build a proper good time.

The catch

Now the honest bit. 2,651 pieces for $269.99 isn't outrageous per piece, but as plenty of reviewers pointed out, you can buy an actual playable retro arcade cabinet for not a lot more money, and that stings a little. The most common gripe about the build itself is the maze, where you place the pellets one at a time and the fun drains out of it long before you're done. The moving mechanism is genuinely clever, but it's the kind of thing you'll show three friends and then mostly leave sitting still, so don't buy it expecting a toy you'll fiddle with daily. There's also just the one minifig, and it isn't even a game character, it's a jacket-wearing arcade player with Pinky the ghost peeking out from under the jacket, which is a fun detail but a thin haul for a set this size. Oh, and it takes up real shelf space, standing tall like the cabinet it copies.

Who it's for

So who should grab it? If PAC-MAN is woven into your childhood, or you want a conversation piece that looks brilliant on a desk or shelf, this is an easy yes and it displays beautifully. It rewards a patient builder who enjoys technique over speed. If you're chasing pure parts value or a set you'll actively play with for weeks, your money goes further elsewhere. One more nudge: this set landed in May 2023 and BrickEconomy has it slated to retire around mid-2026, so if you've been circling it, now's the time before it's gone and aftermarket prices creep up. For the right buyer this is a lovely recommendation. For everyone else, it's a gorgeous model that costs about as much as the real thing.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build opens with laying down the tiled arcade floor, which instantly sets the 80s mood, then moves into the cabinet shell where the clever stuff lives. There's a ton of SNOT (studs not on top) and angled bracket work to get those swept cabinet sides looking right, so it never feels like stacking boring walls. The joystick internals are a proper little puzzle: rubber Technic pieces held by L-shaped axle connectors, with an axle and a four-bar hub locking it all together so the stick actually pivots. Then you build the maze mechanism, and this is the section that earns the price, a hidden chain drive where you slot chain links to time when things move. It's fiddly in the best way and very satisfying once it all clicks and cranks smoothly. The maze pellet placement is the one dull stretch, so put a podcast on for that part.

For parts nerds there's real treasure here. This set was one of the first outside the Speed Champions line to use the rounded 1x1x2/3 SNOT brick, and it leans hard on a small chain link with a side bar that lets you program the timing of the moving characters, which is a genuinely novel technique. You get a light brick for that glowing coin slot, a pile of printed tiles and screen elements for the maze artwork, and a display case up top that rotates PAC-MAN, Blinky and Clyde figures. At roughly 10 cents a piece it's fair rather than a steal, but you're paying for the mechanism and the printed detail more than raw brick tonnage.

Fun facts

01The original PAC-MAN arcade game launched in 1980 from Namco, and LEGO built this tribute with Bandai Namco more than 40 years later.
02The whole maze runs on a hidden chain drive you crank by hand, with no motor or batteries, and you can reposition the chain links to change when PAC-MAN and the ghosts move.
03This was one of the first LEGO sets outside the Speed Champions line to use the rounded 1x1x2/3 SNOT brick.
04The single minifig isn't a game character at all, it's an arcade player whose jacket hides Pinky the ghost and a PAC-MAN button, a sneaky little Easter egg.