Q*bert
1982 · Puzzle / Action · Arcade
Overview
Q*bert is a 1982 arcade game by Gottlieb in which a spherical, orange, long-nosed character hops around a pyramid of cubes from an isometric perspective, changing each cube's color by landing on it while being pursued by various enemies. Players must change every cube to the target color without being caught by Coily the snake, Slick and Sam who reverse color changes, and other hazards. Q*bert's distinctive character design, gibberish speech bubbles when he falls off the pyramid, and challenging puzzle mechanics made it one of the most beloved games of the golden age of arcade gaming. It sold over 25,000 cabinets and became one of Gottlieb's biggest hits.
Deep Dive
Q*bert was designed by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee, who originally envisioned the character as '@!#?@!' (a placeholder name that became part of the game's identity). The pyramid of cubes created a three-dimensional puzzle challenge on a two-dimensional screen, with later levels requiring multiple hops on each cube to reach the target color and introducing enemies that revert cubes already changed. Q*bert could hop off the edge of the pyramid and catch floating discs that teleported him back to the top — a mechanic that added both escape routes and strategic traps when players lured Coily off the edge with them. The character appeared on TV shows, lunch boxes, and countless licensed products. Q*bert was later included in the 2015 film Pixels and remains one of the most recognizable characters of the arcade era.
Developer Story
Q*bert was designed by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee at Gottlieb in 1982. Lee drew the character as a doodle and Davis built mechanics around it — changing pyramid cube colours by hopping on them. The gibberish speech (rendered as "@!#?@!" in cartoons and advertising) was synthesised dialogue that varied depending on the situation. Q*bert became an enormous cultural phenomenon and one of the most licensed game characters of the 1980s.
Did You Know?
- Q*bert's speech — "@!#?@!" — was synthesised dialogue; the character's curse words became a cultural touchstone of early gaming.
- The "Coily" snake enemy homed in on Q*bert and could only be defeated by luring it off the pyramid onto a floating disc.
- The colour-changing mechanic required covering every cube, with later rounds requiring cubes to be hopped multiple times.
- Q*bert appeared on Saturday morning cartoons, lunchboxes, and T-shirts — one of the most heavily licensed characters of the early gaming era.
