The game is an updated version of Qix, with extra features and a futuristic science fiction aesthetic, rather than Qix's abstract geometry style. The player pilots a small spaceship named "monotros" instead of a simple dot and the enemies come in the form of various aliens.
Taking place in another galaxy, a space pilot is returning to his home world of Volfied, only to discover that it is under attack by an unknown alien force. The few remaining Volfied inhabitants are in an underground location of the planet and signal the pilot to their aide. The pilot flies to Volfied using his ship's defensive weapons in order to eliminate the alien threat and save his people.
For those not familiar with the predecessor, gameplay has the player piloting a spaceship that cuts out portions of the level by forming closed shapes with the edges of the playing field. The player is (at least temporarily) safe on the outer edge of the playing field, but while claiming territory, they are vulnerable to being attacked by the enemies and boss in the stage.
This Video Game contains examples of:
- Adam and Eve Plot: In the arcade ending, you discover that there is only one survivor of your race left, and that survivor is the opposite sex of your own sex.
- Contractual Boss Immunity: The laser power-up kills lesser enemies in one shot, but the stage boss is immune.
- Copy Protection: The Dos version requires entering a code from a card. It waits until the end of level 1 to tell you failed before exiting to Dos (which locks the system because it doesn't restore the keyboard handler.)
- Dual Boss: Level 6's boss consists of two separate entities. If you manage to separate them completely, that will kill them and complete the level.
- Easy-Mode Mockery: On easy, the DOS version of Volfied ends the game before the final level.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: If you get hit by an enemy when your ship's shield is down, you lose a life. If the line you're tracing is struck by an enemy before you fully enclose an area, they'll send explosions after you that kill you on contact as well unless you beat them to the border. Staying on the border means you're safe, but that doesn't last forever.
- Palette Swap: Some enemies use identical sprites with different colors. The palette swapped versions are a bit more dangerous, such as firing five bullets and spending less recovery time.
- The Place: The name of the game is the planet that is being defended, not a Verbed Title with a Neologism base verb.
- Power-Up: Enclosing a square block provides one randomly chosen powerup.
- Ring Out: Enclosing a regular enemy outside the border (with "outside" being "the side the boss is not on") will kill it. Destroying multiple enemies at once this way gives exponential score bonuses for each enemy simultaneously destroyed.
- Scoring Points: You get points for destroying enemies and clearing stages.
- Smart Bomb: One of the randomly-obtained powerups will instantly kill all normal enemies on the level.
- Timed Mission: The ship's shield keeps you invulnerable as long as the ship is on the border, but only for a limited time. When the time runs out, enemies' attacks that hit you will kill you even if you are on a border.
- Time Stands Still: One of the game's power-ups freezes time, temporarily stopping all enemies in play as well as your shield timer.
- Verbed Title: It looks like one, with a Neologism base verb, but it's actually The Place, the planet that is being defended.
- Weapon of X-Slaying: The red laser power-up (only sometimes obtained from flashing red powerup boxes) allow you to shoot and kill the boss with it, scoring a special score bonus for doing so.
- Womb Level: The stage backgrounds start to resemble living flesh from Level 13 onwards.
