PAC-MOM

PAC-MOM [1] is a parody of the popular arcade game PAC-MAN (1980) by Toru Iwatani. Game scholars classify PAC-MAN as an eating game. PAC-MOM is a game about gender and food insecurity. PAC-MOM takes place in a situation where accessing
food requires PAC-MOM to work a disproportionate amount more than PAC-MAN. In
addition to having to work more for the same amount of pellets as PAC-MAN, PAC-MOM
has to avoid powerful ghost-enemies including patriarchy, misogyny, racism,
ableism, and many more. Watch a playthrough on Vimeo. [2]

  • Links:
  • [1] PAC-MOM Website: http://www.anninaruest.com/pac_mom
  • [2] PAC-MOM playthrough video: https://vimeo.com/469158684

Annina Rüst is an artist-technologist. She creates electronics and software-based media art. Her works often focus on political issues within tech culture, including gender representation and online privacy. Rüst’s work has been
reviewed in such publications as Wired and the New York Times Magazine. The Huffington Post called her recent
robotics work a “Badass Feminist Robot”. Besides making and exhibiting technology-driven art, she writes scholarly
articles that contextualize her own work and the work of others. Rüst teaches programming, game development,
electronics, data visualization, and digital fabrication at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College at Florida Atlantic
University where she is an Associate Professor.