Pac-man
A new card for the catalogue.
View on visual frameworks.com.
Pac-man is a game of punctuated equilibrium, where you survive by being constantly in motion, making incremental progress, under pressure from forces that won’t stop. The ghosts don’t rest. And the power pellet, when you find it, doesn’t last long. What matters is whether you can recognize the window of opportunity when it arrives, and act before the window closes.
What is pursuing you? By what logic does it move? What would happen if you changed the game?
See Also: Maze, Doom Loop, Tetris, Minefield, Momentum, Gauntlet, Infinite Loop.
Someone once told me that a window of opportunity is a small timeframe in which powers are reversed and the weaker party can win. Once the window closes all previous powers are restored.
Your Pac-Man metaphor fits this perfectly.