Q*bert

Q*bert is a fixed-screen action game with puzzle elements in which the player guides the title character across a pyramid of 28 cubes. Qbert moves by hopping diagonally from one cube to another, changing the color of each cube he lands upon. A round is completed when every cube has been changed to the indicated target color. Jumping beyond the edge of the pyramid instead of onto a floating disk costs one of the player’s lives.

Each level consists of four rounds with progressively more complicated color-changing rules. During the first level, each cube reaches its target color after a single landing. The second requires cubes to be changed through an intermediate color, usually requiring two visits. From the third level onward, every landing changes a cube again, including those that have already reached the target color, forcing the player to plan routes more carefully and avoid undoing earlier progress.