Qix Walkthrough

Qix is an arcade game that was developed and published by Taito. It was first released in arcades in 1981. Qix spawned numerous ports for home systems such as the Atari 5200, Commodore 64, and the NES. The gameplay mechanics of this classic game were also featured in numerous games, including a minigame in Bully, by Rockstar Games. This Flash port of Qix has identical gameplay, sounds, and graphics compared to the classic arcade game.

The objective of Qix is to fence off a majority of the playing field. The arcade version of this classic game allowed the arcade owner to adjust the amount of the field that had to be claimed in order to advance to the next level, but this Flash port of the classic game requires you to claim the default value of seventy-five percent of the field. In order to accomplish your goal, you must connect lines (referred to as "stix") to form boxes. Blue lines are drawn faster than red lines, but red lines reward double the score when a box is drawn using them.

There is no time limit in Qix, but there are hazards that must be avoided. You start with three lives, and if your marker touches a hazard, you will lose one life. When all lives are lost, the game is over. The first hazard is the namesake of the game, the Qix. Qixes move gracefully across the screen in an erratic pattern. If your marker or an uncompleted line touches a Qix, you will lose a life. The second way to lose a life in this arcade game is if your marker touches a fuse. Fuses appear when you stop moving the marker when drawing a line. Moving the marker will cause the fuse to disappear. Sparx are the final type of hazard featured in this classic game. Sparx move along the edges of the playing field. The timer bar at the top of the screen indicates the time left before more Sparx are added. There is no way to defeat these enemies, so they must be avoided by skillful maneuvering.

Like many arcade games of its time, Qix is simple but highly addictive. Now you can relive this classic game without spending a single quarter or searching for an emulator!