Admission Ticket to @!#?@!: Art, Design and Sound of Q*bert

Join Chicago Gamespace for a special exhibition about one of the most inventive and endearing games from the early history of arcade video games: Q*bert. Created by designer Warren Davis, artist Jeff Lee, composer David Thiel and others for D. Gottlieb & Co. in 1982, the game stars the cute, stout-nosed Q*bert who must hop around a pyramid of cubes while dodging enemies. Q*bert was notable for its distinctive protagonist, isometric cube playfield, and simple, clever action gameplay in contrast to the dominant shooter, racing and maze games of its time. Known primarily for being a pinball company, Gottlieb found a significant — yet singular — hit in the arcade coin-op field with Q*bert.

@!#?@!: Art, Design and Sound of Q*bert is an exhibition featuring the playable arcade game Q*bert, several console iterations of the game, the Parker Bros board game, concept design documents, photographs, and art by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee as well as an array of licensed Q*bert ephemera. Additional highlights include a didactic video display about the legacy of the game, and an interactive sound station where visitors can play with the Votrax speech synthesizer that generated Q*bert’s incoherent outbursts. The exhibition title takes its name from the original, unpronounceable title of Q*bert, immortalized in a speech bubble in the game and in cabinet art. Curated by Ethan Johnson and Jonathan Kinkley.

Admission also includes entry to the Chicago Gamespace collection which highlights the most important games from history including Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Defender, Centipede, Pole Position, Oregon Trail, Super Mario Brothers, Tetris, Zelda, Mortal Kombat 2, Doom, NBA Jam, Cruis'N USA, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time among others.

*General Admission is $8 (Ages 13+), $5 Kids Admission (Ages 5-12), Free Admission for Kids Under 5.

*There is limited free and metered street parking in the area. We are located nearby the Blue Line Western stop and the 606 Western stop so public transport / walking / getting dropped off / rideshare is encouraged.

*Recommended for ages 5+, parental supervision requested. Limited stroller parking available.

Host or Publisher Chicago Gamespace