April Fool's Prank: Is it Google Maps or Pac-Man?

In celebration of April Fool's Day, Google has gone all out with a fun Pac-Man theme. The virtual streets of Google Maps are being transformed into Pac-Man's chomping grounds.

Google Maps was one of the first companies to head to the Web with a prank. Users could punch in an address and have the choice to turn a map into Pac-Man video game with the characters moving through the streets.

The gag on Google Maps enables visitors to click on a Pac-Man symbol in the lower left of the screen to play the video game on whatever location is listed in the address bar. As has been happening for nearly 35 years, Pac-Man eats blinking dots while trying to elude four "ghosts" - Pinky, Blinky, Inky and Clyde.

The game can be played in Google Maps on desktop computers or mobile devices that have the latest app update for Apple's iOS or Google's Android software.

However, this isn't the first time that Google Inc.'s engineers have paid tribute to Pac-Man. In May 2010, Google tweaked the doodle on its main search page to accommodate games of Pac-Man.

Planting Pac-Man into maps probably won't be Google's only April Fools' stunt, based on the Mountain View, California, company's colorful past. Among other things, Google previously has promised to introduce search by smell, provide a translation tool for animals and posted notices for jobs on the moon.

Have fun with this cool trick on April Fool's Day.