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Q*bert is an action game with puzzle elements played from an axonometric third-person perspective to convey a three-dimensional look. The game is played using a single, diagonally mounted four-way joystick. The player controls Q*bert, who starts each game at the top of a pyramid made of 28 cubes, and moves by hopping diagonally from cube to cube. Landing on a cube causes it to change color, and changing every cube to the target color allows the player to progress to the next stage.

At the beginning, jumping on every cube once is enough to advance. In later stages, each cube must be hit twice to reach the target color. Other times, cubes change color every time Q*bert lands on them, instead of remaining on the target color once they reach it. Both elements are then combined in subsequent stages. Jumping off the pyramid results in the character's death.

Programmer Warren Davis wrote that he was inspired by a pattern of hexagons implemented by fellow Gottlieb developer and Mad Planets designer Kan Yabumoto.

In a different telling, the initial concept began when artist Jeff Lee drew a pyramid of cubes inspired by M. C. Escher. Lee believed a game could be derived from the artwork, and created an orange, armless main character.

Q*bert is Gottlieb's only video game that earned considerable critical and commercial success, selling around 25,000 arcade cabinets. In the United States, it was among the thirteen highest-grossing arcade games of 1983. A cocktail version of the game was later produced. These machines have since become collector's items.

When the game was first introduced to a wider industry audience at the November 1982 AMOA show, it was immediately received favorably by the press. Video Games magazine placed Q*bert first in its list of Top Ten Hits, describing it as "the most unusual and exciting game of the show" and stating that "no operator dared to walk away without buying at least one". The Coin Slot reported "Gottlieb's game, Q*BERT, was one of the stars of the show", and predicted that "The game should do very well".

According to Jeremy Parish, Q*bert is "one of the higher-profile titles of the classic era". In describing Q*bert's legacy, Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot referred to the game as a "rare arcade success". In 2008, Guinness World Records ranked it behind 16 other arcade games in terms of their technical, creative and cultural impact. Though successful, the creators of the game did not receive royalties, as Gottlieb had no such program in place at the time. Davis and Lee nonetheless expressed pride about the game continuing to be remembered fondly.

Q*bert became one of the most merchandised arcade games behind Pac-Man, although according to John Sellers it was not nearly as successful as that franchise or Donkey Kong. The character's likeness appears on various items including coloring books, sleeping bags, frisbees, board games, wind-up toys, and stuffed animals. In a flyer distributed in 1983, Gottlieb claimed over 125 licensed products. However, the video game crash of 1983 depressed the market, and the game's popularity began to decline by 1984.