Best Games - Qix
There are very few games that are so distilled, so conceptually pure, that adding anything at all reduces them. They become less perfect. Less good.
Qix is the concept of risk versus reward manifest in vivid geometric patterns and the angry humming cracks of high voltage.
The goal of Qix is to corral lightning. A beautiful but chaotic creature, the Qix, dominates the playfield. Every aspect of its design and movement speaks danger. A thing to be avoided. The game then forces you to enter into the domain of the Qix by sending unshakable pursuers down the digital fences you create. Pause even slightly, and new harassers form behind you. You must always move forward. The game gives you one choice.
Would you move fast, or slow. That is all. Retreat from direct conflict with the Qix is not an option. The longer your line, the more fence you dare to lay out in an attempt to pen in the Qix, the higher the risk. One touch from the Qix delivers an audio visual concussion of screeching static. Failure is not ambiguous. During future attempts to cage this monster, you will have no choice but to be cautious.
Future attempts to reproduce, spin off, rip off, or riff on Qix, have been… unsatisfactory. There are a great many games that try to replicate the core of Qix, but the crystalline simplicity of the original remains astounding.
Qix is perfect, and it is one of the best games.