This classic isomeric & quirkily [speech bubble anyone] puzzler was originally inspired by the work of M.C. Escher.
During development Q*Bert could shoot (which would have made things much easier). The game went through several names, “Cubes”, “Snot & Boogers” & “@!#?@!”. The team eventually settled on the name “Hubert”, which was combined with the word “cube”, to make “Cubert”. Which the art director made into “Q-Bert”, which was altered finally into “Q*Bert”.
The final name came to be regretted later as the asterisk in the name meant it couldn’t be used by either crosswords or search engines!
Though Q-bert hd a run of success & a legacy that lives on today (he even had his own tv show for a while).
