Q*bert Rules and User Guide

Introduction

Q*bert, a nosey little guy with a propensity for hopping, spends his time on a three-dimensional pyramid of cubes, hopping onto green creatures and avoiding Coily the Snake and other assorted purple and red creatures. If he gets into a tight spot, Q*bert can jump off the pyramid onto a flying disc which will despoit him back at the top of the pyramid and lure Coily to a nasty fate by jumping into nothing!

Quick Start Tips

  • Change the tops of all cubes to a new target color by hopping onto them.
  • Number pad keys (1 – 3 – 7 – 9) will move Q*bert from cube to cube.
  • Stay on the pyramid! Only jump off to use a disk, which takes you back to the top.
  • Destroy Coily the snake by leading him to the edge then jumping on a disk.
  • All green objects are safe to hit and earn points. All other objects are deadly.

How To Play

Game play starts with the player-controlled Q*bert character appearing at the top of the pyramid. The objective is to change the color of the top of every cube in the pyramid to the designated color by hopping on them. Once all the cubes have been changed to the designated color, the screen advances to the next round, with Q*bert starting back on the top cube. Each level consists of four rounds, and each level starts with a short demonstration cycle of Q*bert hopping around four cubes to demostrate the play action for that level. In level 2, the play action increases in difficulty—each cube has to be hopped on twice (rather than just once) to change to the designated color. From level 3 on, the play action becomes more difficult still, since any cube that Q*bert hops on will change color. If the cube has already been changed to the designated color, it changes back to the original color.

Q*bert can move from cube to cube anywhere on the pyramid by hopping in one of four diagonal directions, but jumping off will kill him. Hopping on the rotating disk will take Q*bert back to the top of the pyramid. To add variety to the game, the number and positions of the disks will change from round to round. (See Round Progression chart.) Several other characters also inhabit this pyramid, some of which can kill Q*bert.

All red and purple objects are deadly to touch. Red balls must be avoided as they bounce down and off the pyramid. A purple ball bounces down and stops at the bottom, then hatches into “Coily” the Snake, who chases Q*bert. (To destroy the snake, lure him to the edge, then jump onto a spinning disk; the disk will take Q*bert back to the top and Coily will fall off, which also clears the pyramid of any other opponents.) After a few rounds, Coily is joined by two other purple characters (“Ugg” and “Wrong-Way”) that appear in the bottom corners of the pyramid and travel sideways and upwards. These two operate on a slightly different plane: they stand sideways and move down the pyramid as if it were rotated 120 degrees to either side. They don't chase Q*bert, but move randomly across the pyramid and get in his way.

Only green characters or objects are safe to hop onto, and are also worth points. A green ball will appear and bounce down from the top of the pyramid. Hopping onto a green ball awards 100 points and stops time briefly for everyone but Q*bert. After a few rounds, two green characters (“Slick” and “Sam”) will appear. They drop onto the second level from the top and hop randomly downwards. If they hop onto a cube that Q*bert has already changed the color of, the cube will change to a different color, thwarting Q*bert's efforts. Hopping onto Slick or Sam will stop them and award 300 points.

Throughout the remaining rounds, all characters and objects will appear in random combinations with increasing speed. Bonus points are awarded for successfully completing each round. The completion bonus begins at 1,000 points for the first round and progressively increases by 250 points each round to a maximum of 5,000 points at level 5. (See Round Progression chart.)

Scoring

Changing a cube to designated target color
Changing a cube to intermediate color (Level 2+)
Hopping onto a Green Ball
Hopping onto “Slick” or “Sam”
Luring “Coily” off the edge
Unused disks (end of each round)
Round Completion Bonus		 Scores 25 points
Scores 15 points
Scores 100 points and freezes everyone except Q*bert
Scores 300 points
Scores 500 points and clears pyramid of characters
Scores 50 points each
(See Round Progression Chart)

Round Progression

The following chart lists round progressions for Q*bert. Starting with Level V, all characters will appear in each subsequent round. The number of disks and the Round Completion Bonus will remain the same value for the rest of the game. The characters and play action will gain more speed with each increased level of play.

Level Round Disks Characters Completion
Bonus
Red Balls Coily Ugg/Wrong-Way Green Ball Slick/Sam
Level 1 1
2
3
4
2
2
2
2
X
X

X
X
X
X
X


X



X
X


X
X
1000
1250
1500
1750
Level 2 1
2
3
4
3
3
2
2


X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
2000
2250
2500
2750
Level 3 1
2
3
4
4
4
3
3
X

X
X
X
X
X
X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
3000
3250
3500
3750
Level 4 1
2
3
4
6
6
5
4
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X

X

X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
4000
4250
4500
4750
Level 5 1
2
3
4
7
6
6
5
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
5000
5000
5000
5000
Levels 6–10 1–4
5
X
X
X
X
X
5000