The player's marker can move at two different speeds; areas drawn exclusively at the slower speed (orange-red on the screenshot shown) are worth double points. It cannot cross or backtrack along any Stix in progress.

A life is lost if the Qix touches any uncompleted Stix or if the marker is touched by any of the Sparx – enemies that traverse all playfield edges except uncompleted Stix. In addition, if the marker stops while drawing, a fuse will appear and burn along the uncompleted Stix toward the marker; if it reaches the marker, the player loses one life. The fuse disappears once the player moves the marker again. The player has no defences against the enemies and must out-manver them in order to survive