Metaphors

Definition of metaphors: A metaphor is a figure of speech that refers to something as being the same as another thing for rhetorical effect. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two ideas. Where a simile compares two items, a metaphor directly equates them, and does not use "like" or "as" as does a simile.

Metaphors in Pac-Man game: In Pac-Man the basic pick up are the DOTS. The player eats them as it walks through the map. The player becomes empowered to eat ghosts when it gets ENERGIZED DOTS. Eating is the core action of Pac-Man.

From time to time FRUITS appear on the center of the map. They act as bonus pick ups. The metaphor is simple: they are harmless and they are eatable, so you should eat them. Eating more is awesome. Fruits are good.

Strangely, the ghosts don’t eat you back. Instead you disintegrate when they touch you. It creates a separation between the player and its objective (to eat the dots) and the enemies and their objectives (to haunt the player). Pac-man dies after being confronted by this out-of-life presence. Ghosts are scary. But imagine what Pac-man would look like if instead of ghosts we had Dinosaurs or Tigers trying to eat Pac-man, as Pac-man eats the dots. Now there’s no separation. The enemies are not out-of-this-world creatures. We are all the same. Maybe the players would eventually stop running and allow themselves to be eaten. Maybe we should all eventually stop running. Could it be that somehow having ghosts chasing you around narrow corridors is less scary and traumatic than realizing we are also just an afternoon snack of someone else’s reality?