How to Create a Pause Menu

Create a PauseMenu scene with Control as root. Add a semi-transparent ColorRect background (rgba(0,0,0,150)). Add a Label 'PAUSED' at the top. Add three Buttons vertically: 'Resume', 'Restart', and 'Main Menu'. Use a VBoxContainer for clean layout. Initially set the scene to invisible: `visible = false`.

Create PauseMenu.gd script. Add pause toggle function: `func toggle_pause():`, `var tree = get_tree()`, `tree.paused = not tree.paused`, `visible = tree.paused`. If paused, show menu and set first button as focused: `if visible: $VBoxContainer/ResumeButton.grab_focus()`.

Handle input for ESC key: `func _input(event): if event.is_action_pressed('ui_cancel'): toggle_pause()`. This uses Godot's built-in 'ui_cancel' action (mapped to ESC by default). Connect button signals: `$ResumeButton.pressed.connect(_on_resume_pressed)`, etc.

Implement button functions: `func _on_resume_pressed(): toggle_pause()` (unpauses game). `func _on_restart_pressed(): toggle_pause()`, `get_tree().reload_current_scene()` (restarts level). `func _on_main_menu_pressed(): toggle_pause()`, `get_tree().change_scene_to_file('res://scenes/MainMenu.tscn')`.

Integrate pause menu into game scene. In your main game scene: Add the PauseMenu as a child node. Ensure it's on top: set 'Anchor' to full rect. Prevent player input when paused: In player script, check `if get_tree().paused: return` at the start of `_process()` and `_input()` to freeze player movement and actions while paused.