Qix

Controls consist of a four-direction joystick and two buttons: "Slow Draw" and "Fast Draw".

The player controls a diamond-shaped marker that initially moves along the edges of the playfield. Holding down one of the draw buttons allows the marker to draw a line (Stix) in unclaimed territory in an attempt to create a closed shape. Once an area is captured, it is filled with color and points are awarded based on the area claimed and drawing speed. Areas captured entirely with Slow Draw (orange-red in the screenshot) are worth double.

Upon release, Qix was a commercial hit. In 1983, Electronic Games reported that the game exceeded Taito's expectations, quickly rising to being one of the most popular titles of the year. The magazine attributes the game's success to it being unlike any other game at the time, specifically for its unique premise and gameplay mechanics. A year after its debut, its popularity declined and the game became largely forgotten.

Keith Egging, Taito's "Director of Creativity", told Electronic Games: "Qix was conceptually too mystifying for gamers. [...] It was impossible to master and once the novelty wore off, the game faded". In Japan, it was the fifth highest-grossing arcade game of 1981.

Qix II: Tournament (1982) is a version of the original Qix with a new color scheme and which awards an extra life when 90% or more of the screen is enclosed. Super Qix (developed by Kaneko) was released in 1987. The 1989 arcade video game Volfied, also known as Ultimate Qix (Genesis) or Qix Neo (PlayStation), was also released on several mobile phones. Another sequel, Twin Qix, reached a prototype stage in 1995, but was never commercially released.

A port to the Game Boy developed by Minakuchi Engineering and published by Nintendo was released in 1990, with intermissions in which Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach have cameo appearances. In one, Mario is seen in a desert wearing Mexican clothing and playing a guitar with a vulture looking on. The outfit later appears as a costume that Mario can wear in Super Mario Odyssey. The Game Boy port was released as a Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console title in Japan on June 15, 2011, and in North America and Europe on July 7.