Chip's Challenge

December 31, 1989

Epyx

Atari Corporation

PuzzleStrategy

LynxSwitch

Single player

Bird view / Isometric

ActionScience fiction

Summary

Chip's Challenge is a top-down tile-based puzzle video game originally published in 1989 by Epyx as a launch title for the Atari Lynx. It was later ported to several other systems and was included in the Windows 3.1 bundle Microsoft Entertainment Pack 4 (1992), and the Windows version of the Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack (1995), where it found a much larger audience. The original game was designed by developer Chuck Sommerville, who also made about a third of the levels. Most of the conversions from the Atari Lynx original to other formats were carried out by Images Software in the UK. The game was re-released on Steam on May 28, 2015, along with a sequel, Chip's Challenge 2, which was also designed by Sommerville.

Storyline

The premise of the game is that high-school nerd Chip McCallahan has met Melinda the Mental Marvel in the school science laboratory and must navigate through Melinda's "Clubhouse", a series of increasingly difficult puzzles, in order to prove himself and gain membership to the very exclusive Bit Busters Club.