Case Study - Chip's Challenge

Chip's Challenge is a tile-based, puzzle video game. The design of the original game was done by Chuck Sommerville, who also made about a third of the levels. The basic plot of the game is that high-school nerd Chip 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 Buster Club.

The game consists of a series of 148 two-dimensional levels which feature the player character, Nerdy Chip McCallahan, often called just Chip, and various game elements such as computer chips, buttons, locked doors and lethal monsters. Gameplay involves using arrow keys, directional pad or mouse to move Chip about each of the levels in turn, collecting enough chips to open the chip socket at the end of each level, get to the exit, and move onto the next level. Levels can be skipped by entering an appropriate four-letter non-case-sensitive password. Progress is not just measured in terms of completed levels but also in terms of the player's score, which is a sum of the scores obtained on each level. Level scores for timed levels can be improved by completion in less time than previously, and scores on all levels can be improved by using fewer attempts to complete the level.

While the same set of rules applies to each level, there are many different kinds of levels. Some are action-oriented and some are puzzle-oriented. Most but not all levels have a time limit. Types of levels include:

• Chip solving a block-pushing puzzle (similar to Sokoban) to clear a path to the level exit.
• Chip must actively dodge enemies (creatures which move in various ways) and make his way to the end.
• Chip must find his way through a maze. The maze can take various forms, such as a path across an icy surface with set points where he can make turns.

Our project team seek this classic puzzle game as an appropriate reference to our project concept as we share two key features. First, is we try to encourage players to 'read' the situation and come up with a 'strategy' in order to clear the present stage/level. Secondly, there are tasks that must be done in specific orders to clear the stage, which is similar to our 'search and destory' project as we require the players to collaborate and plan where they need to place their gravitional UFOs and who should 'stand/sit' to open/close appropriate doors. Our shared goal is not to limit one specific solution but several combinations to pass each level; depending on the player's imagination.

Reference List
Lida, K. AGH Lynx Review - Chip's Challenge. http://www.atarihq.com/reviews/lynx/chips_challenge.html (accessed August 13, 2007).