Q

#498 – Qix

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                                                           Your Mind is Your Only Weapon, unless you’re packin’ heat.

 

                                  

                                                                          This doesn’t look good. Or like anything at all.

 

PLAYERS: 1-2 alternating

PUBLISHER: Taito

DEVELOPER: Novotrade

GENRE: Arcade/Puzzle

RELEASE DATE: January 1991

 

Qix are not part of this complete breakfast, but they are pronounced ‘Kix’ (not Qu-ix) so some confusion is understandable. The Qix in question are rows of ever-moving lines that look like sticks and bounce around a blacked-out square. Even though Qix look like sticks and the temptation to call Qix a bundle of sticks is nigh unquenchable, rule #1 of Qix is Qix are Qix, not sticks (or Styx). Stix are lines you draw around the Qix, blocking them in one area of the square. I am not making this up. In the land of Qix, almost everything ends with the suffix, “-ix.” You don’t get sick, you get sixx. You don’t break your tailbone, you break your coccyx. But I digress.

 

Block in the Qix with stix to get points and move on to the next level. You can draw fast or slow stix. Slow stix gets you more points, but it also leaves you more vulnerable to Qix penetration. If the Qix touch your stix, Qix hits the brix and you lose a life. Keep in mind, you must always be drawing Stix. If you stop for a moment, a fuse will ignite from the origin of the stix and begin to follow you. If the fuse touches your stix, explosions ensue. And the evil continues. Sparx (what, no -ix?) are vicious little creatures that travel around the square’s circumference and into your stix. If Sparx touch you, more explosions. Two Qix show up on level three and the game only increases in difficulty from there. Qix seems like it has potential to be an addictive arcade experience, but I couldn’t find any enjoyment in trapping lines with other lines. If you’re a points junkie, perhaps Qix will provide a fix. For me, Qix lacks those essential nutrients that make for a complete and satisfying game.

 

C-

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