Q*bert Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object
• Equipment
• Set Up
• Game Play Summary
• Playing
• Moving Q*bert
• Moving the "Nasty" Characters
• Saving Q*bert From Being Captured
• End of Game
• Winning

Object

Collect more pegs than your opponent, and you're the champion Qbert! Both of you take a turn as Qbert, moving around the pyramid trying to get as many pegs as you can. But watch out! Your opponent can stop you by using any one of the "nasty" characters, like Coily, Red Ball, Ugg, or Wrong Way. Collect all the pegs you can, then let your opponent take a turn as Qbert. Now you control the "nasty" characters, and must try to stop your opponent from getting more pegs than you. The Qbert who collects more pegs is the winner.

Equipment

• Game board
• 7 character playing pieces (Q*bert, Coily, Slick, Red Ball, Green Ball, Ugg, Wrong Way)
• 3 flying discs
• 1 six-sided die
• 1 eight-sided die
• 1 character die
• Q*bert secret die-rolling tube
• 28 pegs
• Label sheet

Set Up

Use the following diagram to stick the labels on the appropriate character playing pieces. Then place each of the playing pieces into position as shown.

The set-up diagram shows the pyramid board with Q*bert on the top space, a flying disc at the upper left and at the right and left sides of the pyramid, pegs placed on several spaces, and the character pieces (Ugg, Slick, Green Ball, Red Ball, Coily, Wrong Way) set in their starting positions along the bottom of the board.

Game Play Summary

1. The player who is Qbert drops the eight-sided die into the Qbert secret die-rolling tube, then moves up and/or down the pyramid on the yellow spaces. He or she does not have to move the entire number rolled.

2. The Q*bert player removes a peg from every space on which he or she lands.

3. The player who controls the "nasty" characters rolls the character die and the six-sided die together, then moves the indicated character the appropriate number of spaces.

4. The Q*bert player lifts the secret die-rolling tube to show the other player the number he or she rolled.

5. Play continues until the Q*bert player removes all the pegs or is captured. This ends the first round. The player counts the number of pegs he or she has taken, then sets up the board to begin another round.

6. The Qbert player then plays round two as the "nasty" characters; the other player now moves Qbert.

7. The player who collected more pegs as Q*bert is the winner.

Playing

Each player will play two rounds: one as Q*bert and one as the "nasty" characters.

• When you're Q*bert, you want to collect as many pegs as you can before you're stopped by a "nasty" character.
• When you're the "nasty" characters, you want to stop Q*bert so that player collects as few pegs as possible.

To begin play, each player rolls the six-sided die. The one who rolls the higher number begins the first round as Qbert. The other player controls the "nasty" characters. The player who is Qbert takes his or her turn first.

Moving Q*bert

1. Drop the eight-sided die into the Q*bert secret die-rolling tube so your opponent can't see the number you roll.

   • You may move Q*bert the total number you rolled.

     OR

   • You may move Qbert any number less than the total number. Here's why you might want to do this. If a "nasty" character lands on a space occupied by Qbert, Qbert could be "captured." However, if you haven't moved Qbert the total number you rolled, you can use the moves left over as "escape" moves, and move away from being captured. (See "Saving Q*bert From Being Captured.")

2. Move Q*bert on the yellow spaces. You may move up, down, or up and down on your turn, but you may not move sideways.

   For example, if you roll 4 on your turn and wish to move all 4 spaces, you may do so in any of the following ways: Q*bert moves UP the pyramid, DOWN the pyramid, or UP and DOWN in any combination (diagrams on the sheet show these three routes).

   However, here are some important points to remember as you move Q*bert:

   • If Qbert passes over Ugg or Wrong Way during a move, Qbert is captured and round one is over.
   • If Qbert lands on a space occupied by Coily or Red Ball during any part of a move, Qbert is captured and round one is over.
   • If Qbert lands on a space occupied by Slick during any part of a move, Qbert must stop there. The player removes Slick to its "home" (starting) position, and then ends his or her turn.

Moving the "Nasty" Characters

1. When the Q*bert player has ended his or her turn, roll both the character die and the six-sided die at the same time.

2. Move the indicated character the appropriate number of spaces. Use the chart, "How the 'Nasty' Characters Move and How They Can Capture Q*bert," for the direction of movement for each character.

3. Try to move the "nasty" characters into a position to capture Qbert. Use the chart, "How the 'Nasty' Characters Move and How They Can Capture Qbert," as a guide in trying to capture Q*bert.

4. When Qbert is captured, round one ends. Count the pegs that were removed during that turn, then replace them. Move the "nasty" characters and Qbert to their "home" positions. The Qbert player now controls the "nasty" characters and the other player moves Qbert as round two begins.

NOTE: When the player who controls the "nasty" characters ends his or her turn, the Q*bert player lifts the secret die-rolling tube to reveal the number rolled.

• If Qbert is in danger of being captured by a "nasty" character and has "escape" moves left (hasn't used the entire roll on the die), Qbert can use the rest of the roll to move away from danger. (See "Saving Q*bert From Being Captured.") Game play then continues.
• If Qbert has "escape" moves left but is in no danger of being captured, Qbert cannot use the moves left. Game play continues.

Saving Q*bert From Being Captured

1. Using "Escape" Moves: When you move Qbert less than the full amount shown on the die and Coily or Red Ball lands on a space occupied by Qbert as part of his or her turn, you can use your "escape" moves to move away from a capture.

   For example, let's say that "Coily" and "six" were rolled. If Coily reaches the space occupied by Qbert as a part of the move, Qbert could be captured! But if Qbert has "escape" moves, Qbert can then move away from Coily.

2. Using the Flying Discs: If a flying disc is within reach of Qbert during part of an "escape" move, Qbert can hop onto the disc and "fly" back to the top space on the pyramid. Moving Qbert onto the disc counts as one space. **You don't have to move Qbert onto the disc by exact count. But you forfeit any remaining moves if you don't use your full count.**

   If the top space is occupied, Qbert moves to the next space under the occupied space. The flying disc is then placed out of play, and Qbert ends that turn.

3. "Nasty" Character "Falls Off" Board: While in pursuit of Qbert, Coily, Ugg, Wrong Way, or Red Ball can "fall off" the board in one of the following ways, keeping Qbert from being captured.

   • If Q*bert moves away from an outside space. Let's say Red Ball and Qbert are located on the board, as shown in Figure 1. Qbert has just completed a turn.

     Figure 1: Red Ball and Qbert are on the pyramid, with Red Ball on the space directly above Qbert.

     The other player rolls "Red Ball" and "2" on the dice, then moves Red Ball one space to land on the space occupied by Qbert. However, Qbert has three "escape" moves left, and moves as shown in Figure 2.

     Figure 2: Qbert has moved away along the outside edge of the pyramid, and Red Ball is on the space Qbert left.

     Red Ball, however, can't capture Qbert with the 1 remaining move. Because Red Ball tried to capture Qbert on an outside space, and failed, Red Ball "falls off" the board and is eliminated from the game.

End of Game

The game ends when both players have taken a turn as Q*bert.

Winning

The player who collected more pegs as Q*bert is the winner. If both players collected the same amount of pegs, play another game to determine the winner.