For every Jezzball there was in the Microsoft Entertainment Pack, there was a Chip’s Challenge. A game that, kind of like Skifree, I really didn’t care for, but seemed to have quite the following.
Chip’s is a puzzle game that takes place on a grid (puzzles and grids seem to go together). You, as Chip, run around the level collecting computer chips, avoiding hazards, and using your noggin to solve puzzles, all with the ultimate goal of collecting enough computer chips to open the door to the next level and to get Chip in the door, all without dieing. Chip is very fragile, most likely because he’s a pasty computer nerd (who else would run around giant technological things?). One hit from anything even remotely hazardous and Chip will deadpan, “Bummer”, and you get to start the level over.
The version for Windows apparently had somewhere in the neighborhood of 149 levels, with a handy password feature. Each level had its own password, so you could keep your progress, or go back to play a previous level if you were so inclined.
I did not get through all 149 levels, I barely got through 10 levels. While hearing Chip say “Bummer” when he bought the farm was pretty funny, I just didn’t have the patience to play much more than that. The stages were so large that they didn’t fit neatly into the window, so you had to scroll around and explore a level, figuring out what to do. The problem I had was that you couldn’t really solve most of the levels as you were exploring them. They required careful exploration, planning, and repetition to get the precise sequence of moves needed to complete.
If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, check this page out.