Help me throw a cool Ms. Pac-Man party for 30-something suburbanites!

• For a charity auction, my family "donated" a Ms. Pac-Man party for 16 people. The winners are 8 couples in their mid- to late 30s who each paid a decent bit of money to come to our house and be entertained for a night. We have an old-school Ms. Pac-Man cocktail table and a tournament will be the centerpiece, but I want to put on a great party and give these good people their money's worth. What great ideas - whether general grown-up party ideas or specific Ms. Pac-Man ones - will make that happen? My budget is not unlimited but assume it is large. I recognize that I may be beanplating this, but I do not have much experience throwing a party for grown-ups (and particularly where the attendees have paid for an invite). Our attendees are all friends of ours but do not necessarily know each other. They are all fun people and I think will be up for the inherent silliness of the event. We all live in the same small community. We are already planning to have pizza - we originally thought maybe Pizza Hut for nostalgic purposes but are thinking maybe quality trumps nostalgia - and to get trophies for each participant. Obviously we will have drinks and snacks. But I am hoping there are some "can't miss" things to include or some Pac-Man specific trinkets or touches that might make it fun. "Don't do this" ideas are welcome too.

• Answer:

  This sounds like so much fun! Remove slices from each pizza pie to make it look like Pac-Man and arrange a topping at the top to make it look like Ms. Pac-Man's bow. Definitely choose "good pizza" over nostalgia. If you go with a small non-chain pizza parlor, they may even prepare them that way for you if you ask. Have http://www.rotheblog.com/images/arcade/artwork/mspacman/twobitsbezel_fruit.jpg in small bowls all over the place, with little signs with their appropriate point values. Color-coordinate your family to dress like the ghosts (a full ghost costume may be a bit much.)