​Pac-Man turns 35: Celebrate with a game (right now)

Pac-Man is 35. And he's still hungry.

The iconic yellow character with an insatiable appetite turned 35 Friday, if you can believe it.

Namco Bandai released the first version of Pac-Man (then called Puck-Man) in Japan on May 22, 1980. Later that year the game made its way to American arcades, and, frankly, we wouldn't be the same without it.

So as we approach the end of the workday before this holiday weekend, take a few minutes to appreciate Pac's contribution to gaming (and to your adolescence) with a round or ten.

Here are a few ways you can play, right now:

Google it
For Pac-Man's 30th birthday, Google honored him with an interactive Google doodle. The company has resurrected it today. All you have to do is search "Pac-Man" (with or without the hyphen) on Google's homepage and the game will pop up at the top of the results. Then, do as it says and click to play.

Download it
Android users can get a free Pac-Man app in the Google Play or Amazon app store that includes tournament play and 35th anniversary special levels such as cake- and 1980-themed mazes. The iOS version for iPhone and iPad will cost you $4.99 as part of an anniversary sale, but Namco is also offering a celebratory free Pac-Man Lite app where you can play the game's first stage.

Play online
A number of sites, such as freepacman.org and webpacman.com, offer free Pac-Man games you can play in your browser.