Also known as Q*B
1983 · Gottlieb
Q*Bert's Quest
Known for Pyramid, Figure-eight loop, Lower flippers and Left captive ball. Flat deep blue sky or void, cartoon laboratory interior with black platforms and cream domes and yellow border frame.
- Year
- 1983
- Maker
- Gottlieb
- Type
- Solid state
- Display
- Alphanumeric
- Players
- 4
Known for
- lit inserts
Pyramid
- loop
Figure-eight loop
- extra flipper
Lower flippers
- Captive ball
Left captive ball
- Goal
Villains
On the playfield
- blue
- yellow
- orange
- black
- 4 flippers
- 3 pop bumpers
- 1 spinner
- 2 slingshots
Orbit 1
- Figure-eight loop loop
Captive ball 1
- Left captive ball
Drop target 1
- Drop target 2-banks
Targets 2
- Yellow standup targets
- Back center standup
Lanes 2
- Right u-turn lane
- Center out lane
Flipper 1
- Lower flippers extra flipper
Lights 3
- Pyramid lit inserts
- Villain inserts lit inserts
- No cube symbol lit inserts
On the backglass
Who and what
- creature Huge pinkish-red amorphous blob monster hanging upside down from the title, two huge white eyes with small black pupils, no visible mouth, thin dangling arms and legs, fuzzy soft-edged outline
- creature Pink horned imp-like monster at left on a black ledge, angry slanted brows, yellow eyes, wide open mouth of black-and-white sawtooth teeth, both clawed hands raised, short body, white star sparkle marks on its head
- creature Long-necked pink serpent at right, yellow slit-pupil eye, nostril spots, mouth open with two white fangs and a small white drool droplet, coiling neck
- creature Squat red horned dragon or gargoyle at bottom centre, wrinkled brow and snout, tiny white fangs, small bat-like wings and clawed feet, red body with lighter belly, pink ear and horn interiors
Setting
- Flat deep blue sky or void
- Cartoon laboratory interior with black platforms and cream domes
- Yellow border frame
Text on it
- Q*bert's Quest
- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
How it plays
-
Goals 4
- Cubes
- Villains
- Bashing Villains
- Pyramid Special
Made by
- Design
- John Trudeau
- Art
- David Moore
- Art
- Terry Doerzaph
- Sound & Music
- Craig Beierwaltes
- Sound
- David Thiel
The cast
- Ugg
- Wrongway
- Coily
- Q*bert
Reference
Linked terms
- Pyramid also called Six-cube pyramid
- Figure-eight loop also called Loop Shot also called Loop Shots
- Lower flippers also called Flipper Staging
- Yellow standup targets also called yellow spot targets
- Wrongway also called Wrong Way
- Coily also called Curly
- Q*bert also called Bert's Quest
Playfield vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Playfield
- blue
- yellow
- orange
- black
Fingerprint: Q*bert's Pyramid, giant stepped Egyptian pyramid filling playfield with black triangular faces and red-and-yellow cube steps, two mirrored gold habitrack ramps forming hourglass, orange cartoon worms with huge eyes and white gloves popping from blue side lanes, pink open-mouthed creature marked wazz, black instruction card landmark
A giant stepped Egyptian pyramid that fills the whole playfield, drawn as black triangular faces with red-and-yellow cube steps and framed by two mirrored gold habitrack ramps meeting in an hourglass. The whole design is a maze of blue, yellow and orange lanes with star-shaped standup targets in vertical banks down both side walls. Two pairs of flippers (four in total) sit in the lower third under the pyramid's central black face. Bright orange cartoon worms with huge eyes and white gloves pop out of the blue side lanes, next to a pink open-mouthed creature marked 'WAZZ'. The black lower-left instruction card with dense white instruction text is a strong landmark.
Setting
- Stylised egyptian pyramid interior in plan view
- Bright blue outer playfield field
- Black pyramid faces with gold and red geometric trim
- Gold/yellow habitrack ramps forming a mirrored hourglass
- Red and yellow stepped cube blocks climbing to the apex
Symbols
- Spiral arrow
- Stars on standup targets
- Cube blocks
- Octagon token
- Pyramid silhouette
- Hourglass track geometry
Notable shapes
- Stepped pyramid silhouette filling the field
- Hourglass-shaped gold track
- V-shaped striped lower ramp
- Star-shaped target rows
Art motifs
- Stepped ziggurat geometry
- Black and gold angular banding
- Cartoon googly-eye characters
- Starburst target rows
Themes
- Q*bert
- Pyramid
- Egypt
- Arcade maze
- Cartoon worms
Title on it
- Q*bert's pyramid
Text on it
- Q*bert's Pyramid
- HOW TO PLAY
- Q*BERT'S QUEST
- THE PYRAMID
- THE VILLAIN
- LOOP SHOT
- EXTRA BALL
- SPECIAL
- CREDITS
- BALL
- IN PLAY
- USE
- WAZZ
- Rottlieb
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Creature | Orange segmented worm-like character with huge white googly eyes, white gloved hands and thin legs, standing on the lower left blue lane |
| Creature | Matching orange worm character with big eyes and white gloves on the lower right blue lane |
| Creature | Pink open-mouthed four-legged creature with white eyes and the printed word 'wazz' above it, upper left side |
| Creature | Second pink open-mouthed creature with white eyes on the upper right side beside a round disc target |
| Creature | Flat orange worm illustration printed on the left upper-mid playfield, curled in an s shape |
| Other | Small pyramid-headed figure printed on the printed card at the apex of the cube stack |
A brightly coloured playfield laid out as a giant Egyptian pyramid, seen from above with the cabinet front and red-lit score reels at the bottom edge. The field is dominated by a black, yellow, orange and blue pyramid diagram: stepped red-and-yellow cube blocks ascend toward the apex, with a wide yellow-gold track forming an hourglass of two mirrored ramps down the middle, and a big black 'V' with yellow stripes and a spiral arrow at the bottom centre. Round 'Q*bert's Pyramid' logo in chunky yellow and red bubble letters with a black outline sits on the black pyramid face at centre. Four cartoon orange worm-like creatures with big googly eyes and white gloved hands stand on the lower left and lower right; a pink open-mouthed creature labelled 'WAZZ' stands upper left and another upper right. Two white peg-like posts with printed wrap graphics rise at the top right, beside round yellow and white bumper caps at the top. A metal instruction card headed 'HOW TO PLAY' occupies the lower left, and a metallic wordmark is printed on the blue lower right. A bright glare streak runs diagonally across the lower right quadrant.
Backglass vision analysis
Written by a machine from the photos, so details may be off.
Backglass
- blue
- pink
- yellow
- black
Fingerprint: q*bert's quest: Giant goofy pink blob monster hanging upside down with enormous white eyes, fat arched yellow-orange title with red star between words, horned imp at left on black ledge, long-necked serpent at right rearing, squat red horned dragon foreground center, stack of colored cubes
The single most memorable element is the giant goofy pink blob creature dangling upside down from beneath the title, with two enormous white eyes. Close behind: a huge arched fat yellow-and-red title lettering spanning the whole top of the glass, with a tiny red star between the words. Four separate cartoon monsters crowd the blue lab scene - a grinning horned imp at left, a long-necked serpent at right, and a squat red horned dragon in the foreground. The brightly coloured stack of yellow, magenta, blue and red cubes at dead centre is also distinctive, flanked by small cube icons.
Setting
- Flat deep blue sky or void
- Cartoon laboratory interior with black platforms and cream domes
- Yellow border frame
Symbols
- Small red asterisk or star between the first two title words
- Stack of coloured cubes
- Small yellow, magenta and blue cube icons flanking centre
- Cream-coloured round domes
- White-and-red striped ramps
- Black rectangular platforms
- White star sparkle bursts on the imp's head
Lettering
- Very large arched bubble-serif display lettering, yellow-to-orange gradient faces, thick red inner keyline, heavy black drop shadow
Themes
- Monsters
- Cartoon creatures
- Laboratory
- Platform game
- Serpents
- 1980s arcade
Title on it
- Q*bert's quest
Text on it
- Q*bert's Quest
- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
| Kind | Description |
|---|---|
| Creature | Huge pinkish-red amorphous blob monster hanging upside down from the title, two huge white eyes with small black pupils, no visible mouth, thin dangling arms and legs, fuzzy soft-edged outline |
| Creature | Pink horned imp-like monster at left on a black ledge, angry slanted brows, yellow eyes, wide open mouth of black-and-white sawtooth teeth, both clawed hands raised, short body, white star sparkle marks on its head |
| Creature | Long-necked pink serpent at right, yellow slit-pupil eye, nostril spots, mouth open with two white fangs and a small white drool droplet, coiling neck |
| Creature | Squat red horned dragon or gargoyle at bottom centre, wrinkled brow and snout, tiny white fangs, small bat-like wings and clawed feet, red body with lighter belly, pink ear and horn interiors |
Illuminated rectangular backglass in a gold/yellow metal frame with a dark inner border. A deep blue field carries a huge arched title across the top in fat rounded bubble-serif letters, yellow-to-orange gradient fill, thick red keyline and heavy black drop shadow, with a small red star between the first two words. Below is a cartoon industrial scene in flat airbrushed style: a colossal pinkish-red blob monster with two big white eyes hangs upside down from the title's centre, arms dangling. At left a grinning pink horned imp with clawed hands raised and a sawtooth mouth stands on a black ledge. At right a long-necked pink serpent with yellow slit eyes and two white fangs rears above another ledge. Bottom centre sits a squat red horned dragon with wrinkled snout, tiny fangs and clawed feet, in front of a stack of coloured cubes and two white-and-red striped ramps. Cream round domes, small cube icons and black machine walls fill the middle ground. Two lines of small print sit on the yellow border at lower right.