The development of the game began in early 1979, directed by Toru Iwatani with a nine-man team. Iwatani wanted to create a game that could appeal to women as well as men, because most video games of the time had themes of war or sports. Although the inspiration for the Pac-Man character was, reportedly, the image of a pizza with a slice removed, Iwatani has said he also rounded out the Japanese character for mouth, kuchi (). The in-game characters were made to be cute and colorful to appeal to younger players. The original Japanese title of "Puckman" was derived from the titular character's hockey-puck shape.