Chip’s Challenge FAQ Browse through answers to frequently asked questions about the game, written by members of the Chip’s Challenge community. If you’re new to Chip’s Challenge, this is a great place to start. Chip's Challenge is a top-down tile-based puzzle video game created in 1989 by Chuck Sommerville originally for the hand-held Atari Lynx. Chip's Challenge was then later ported to multiple formats including the Amiga, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, DOS, and Windows, included in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack and Best of Microsoft Entertainment.
The Chip's Challenge community fansite
The community scoreboard for CC1, CC2, and the community level packs
A central knowledge hub for Chip's Challenge levels, mechanics, and more
Directory of player-submitted Chip's Challenge custom level sets available for download
The primary discussion forum for everything Chip's Challenge
Many older level sets available for download
The Chip's Challenge community Discord server - all are welcome!
Play Chip's Challenge
Chip's Challenge was originally released for the Atari Lynx in 1989, but became most popular when it was bundled with the Microsoft Entertainment Pack for Windows in 1992. Today the Microsoft edition of Chip's Challenge (MSCC), including its level set, remains proprietary software and cannot be freely distributed.
Fortunately, there are several legal avenues for fans to continue to enjoy the game. Chip's Challenge 1 was republished on Steam with a new engine in 2015 along with the release of its official sequel, Chip's Challenge 2. This is the easiest way to play the game on a modern computer. For those interested in a free, open-source solution, Tile World 2 (TW2) is a reimplementation of Chip's Challenge 1 and is fully compatible with any level sets designed for MSCC.
Although TW2 cannot legally come with the game's original level set, sound effects and graphics, it is fully compatible with the MSCC game files if you rightfully own them from the 1990s. In addition, this wiki article gives an overview of running the MSCC program on a modern computer if you have access to the original executable.
Community Level Packs
Copyright issues surrounding the game's original 149 levels generated significant community interest in creating custom levels. Since 2002, several community level packs have been assembled and made freely available. These packs are alternate, royalty-free level packs containing player-submitted levels selected through a community vote.
Download Custom Chip's Challenge Levels
CC1 levels and CC2 levels on CC Zone
Members can upload level sets here. Anyone can download sets, even without an account.
pieguy's site
Download CC1 level sets, or can become a member and upload your own level set. Each level set is given its own automatic scoreboard.
Yahoo! group archive
Many older level sets available for download. Rehosted on BitBusters.club in 2019 due to the permanent closure of Yahoo! groups.
Discussion Groups, Tips and Solutions, and More
CC Zone
The official online discussion board for Chip's Challenge.
Chip's Challenge Bit Busters Club
Facebook discussion group. You need a Facebook account to view and post.
Chip's Plus Site
by Alice Voith
Has excellent maps and tips for CC1 levels.
Public TWS
by David Stolp (pieguy)
Solutions for most official CC levels that can be replayed in Tile World.
CC solutions from StrategyWiki
Text walkthroughs for CC1 and CCLP2 levels.
Other Information and Resources
Information on Lynx mode
by Madhav Shanbhag
Originally created as a guide for CCLP3 level design; a great resource for the differences between the MS and Lynx rulesets.
Differences between Lynx and MS modes
by Brian Raiter
Most of this information is now included in Madhav's Lynx guide, but also a great resource.
Differences between Lynx and CC1/CC2 Steam gameplay
by Brian Raiter
Check out this thread at CC Zone for more information.
Information on Chip's Challenge 2
by Niffler Ltd.
Includes an interview from the creator of CC and CC2 himself, Chuck Sommerville.
Andrew E.'s Chip's Challenge Page
by Andrew E.
Has his level sets, links, a list of alternate graphics, and his program cclpinfo.
Details on the CC level file format and DOS CC level format
by John Elliott
Chip's Challenge Corridor
by Anders Kaseorg
Includes a FAQ with questions and answers submitted by CC fans and a solution AVI archive.
Microstupidity
by Chris Elsby
Links, CC and CC2 info, some patches he made for Tile World, and some information about the various versions of Tile World.
Level Editors
Chip's Challenge Creator
by The Architect
The latest level editor, with support for CC1 and CC2 level creation. Compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
CCTools
by Michael H.
Comes with a level editor, level set manager, and an advanced CHIPS.EXE customizer. Compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
ChipEdit
by John Elion
Lightweight and the first level editor released.
Chip's Workshop
by Chris Elsby
Compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Tools Made for Chip's Challenge
SuperCC
by Markus O. & A Sickly Silver Moon
A TASing emulator for advanced solution discovery, optimization, playback and more. Additional information available at CC Zone
MyChips
by Dale Bryan
Tool that makes separate .exe files for all the level sets you make or download so scores from each set won't interfere with each other.
Chip's Controls
by Mike L
Play many level sets with just one EXE file and one INI file. Contains other tools such as a DAC file generator for Tile World, an INI file editor, and a CCX file editor for Tile World 2.
Dat2C2G
by Chuck Sommerville
Converts CC level sets to CC2 format.
cclpinfo
by Andrew E and Madhav Shanbhag
Outputs level specs for all the levels of the specified CC1 level set. ChipHome5 made a batch file that does not require the command prompt available here (rehosted from Yahoo! groups).
ccdiff
by Madhav Shanbhag
Compares two versions of a level set. Rehosted from Yahoo! groups.
T-Chip
by Ruben Spaans
MSCC mod that gives a time limit to untimed levels for competitive purposes.
MapMaker
by Ruben Spaans
Make maps of CC levels. Check out CirothUngol's MapMaker Automated Assistant for creating maps for every level of every set you have automatically.
ChipCap
by Anders Kaseorg
Record animated solutions (AVIs) of Chip's Challenge levels.
ccpatch
by ccexplore
CC patch that fixes the Transparency Glitch.
fullsec
by ccexplore
CC patch that gives you the full first second every time you play a level.
pgchip
by David Stolp (pieguy)
CC patch that adds a new tile, the ice block, to the game.
tws2json
by Andrew E
Converts Tile World TWS solutions to a more readable format. Source code and instructions can be found here.
Chip's Challenge Clones
Tile World
by Brian Raiter
An emulation of the MS and Lynx version of Chip's Challenges. Compatible with Windows (binary), Mac, and Linux (source code).
Tile World for Mac
by Thomas Harte
Tile World binary that works on Mac.
Tile World 2
by Madhav Shanbhag and Eric Schmidt
Update to Tile World with more features and an improved user interface.
Rommy's Gauntlet
by Richard Porteous
Remake for Android. Can play standard CC DAT files. Richard has made the source code of Rommy's Gauntlet available.
WebCC
by PsuFan
Online Chip's Challenge clone, missing tiles from the original game but adds some new tiles. There is also an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch version of this clone.
CC for GameBoy Advance emulators
by Alekmaul
Port of CC for GameBoy Advance emulators, translated to French.
Pocket Chip's Challenge
by Iceboxman Technologies
Clone of Chip's Challenge for the PocketPC.
Chip 27s Challenges
Chip's Challenge for TI-83+
by Brendan Fletcher
Port of CC for the TI-83+ graphing calculator.
Chip's Challenge for TI-Nspire
by apcalc
A port of CC for the TI-Nspire graphing calculator.
TileGame
by Frode van der Meeren
Port of Chip's Challenge for the TI-83/84 graphing calculator, although it doesn't include all of the tiles found in the original CC. Rehosted from Yahoo! groups.
Online TileGame
by Frode van der Meeren
Online version of the previous TileGame clone.
JavaScript Chip's Challenge
by Norman DeForest and Madhav Shanbhag
Tile World for GP2X
by Dan Silsby
Port of Tile World for the GP2X handheld gaming system. This link contains the source code; the official site for this port is no longer available.
Chip's Challenge for Dingoo
by Harteex
Port of Chip's Challenge for a handheld device called the Dingoo.
Other Games Similar to Chip's Challenge
Chuck's Challenge
Chip 27s Challenge 2019
by Niffler Ltd.
Chip 27s Challenge Results
Spiritual successor to Chip's Challenge from the original creator, Chuck Sommerville. Versions exist for the iOS, Android, PC, Mac, and Linux.
Lexy's Labyrinth
by eevee
An open-source JavaScript implementation of Chip's Challenge 1 and some Chip's Challenge 2 elements. Bundled with the CCLPs and a level editor.