Have you ever looked at your GitLab or GitHub contribution graph and thought, “This could be… more exciting?” I know I have. I wanted a fun and creative way to visualize my contributions, especially on GitLab, where I store all my private projects. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything online that did the trick.
Then, I stumbled upon snk (check it out here). It’s a super cool project that turns your GitHub contribution graph into a snake game. You simply provide your GitHub username, and it generates an image of a snake weaving its way through your contributions. Awesome, right? But there was one problem: snk only supports GitHub. Since I primarily use GitLab for private projects, I needed something similar, but there wasn’t a solution out there. So, I decided to create my own.
Introducing the Pac-Man Contribution Game 🎮
Instead of a snake, I thought, why not Pac-Man? Pac-Man is iconic, dynamic, and just plain fun. I developed a game that overlays a Pac-Man grid on your GitLab or GitHub contribution history. Here’s how it works:
- The game generates your contribution grid and populates it with Pac-Man and four ghosts.
- Pac-Man’s mission? Clear all the cells on the grid.
- The ghosts? Chasing Pac-Man to stop him!
- If Pac-Man eats enough cells, he gets a power-up and can turn the tables on the ghosts, making them flee.
- The game ends when Pac-Man clears the entire grid.
It’s a fully automated experience — no user input required! Just sit back and watch as Pac-Man chomps his way through your contributions.
How It Works
The game pulls your commit history from GitHub or GitLab and translates it into a contribution grid. Then, it places Pac-Man and the ghosts on the grid.
There are two export options for the game:
- HTML Canvas: Perfect for running the game in your browser.
- Animated SVG: Downloadable and sharable for use anywhere.
You can try the game for yourself right now: Pac-Man Contribution Game Demo.
You can also see how it looks like on Github profiles live on @abozanona.
This is how canvas export for my gitlab account looks like:
What’s Next?
Of course, the project isn’t perfect (yet). Here are a few things I’m working on improving:
- Smarter movement algorithms: Currently, the sprites use basic algorithms. I want them to behave more like the real Pac-Man game.
- Better sprite design: Pac-Man’s mouth animation, ghost shapes, and collision effects could all use some love.
- Fixing SVG issues: The exported SVG occasionally has glitches with sprite movement and design that need smoothing out. And Pac-Man never goes out of power-up mode; this results in a huge svg file size.
I’m also planning to add some exciting new features, like the ability to integrate the game directly into your GitHub profile — similar to how the snk game works.
Why I Built This
At its core, this project is about creativity and having fun with your developer tools. Contribution graphs are a snapshot of your coding journey, and turning them into a playable game adds a unique twist. Whether you’re showcasing your coding streak or just having a laugh, I hope this Pac-Man game brings some joy to your day.
Check out the project repository for more details and to see how it works. Feedback, ideas, and contributions are always welcome!
