Line #40 VideoGame/ChipsChallenge


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/af7524834401fa45b75fcf58e2ad28d4.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:The things a nerd will do for love...]]
3
4	->''"Their eyes met across the laboratory... the chemistry was instantaneous! But is Chip man enough to get into Melinda's club?"''
5	-->-- Magazine ad
6
7	''Chip's Challenge'' is a game originally created by Chuck Sommerville of Creator/{{Epyx}} for the Platform/AtariLynx but later ported to various platforms, most notably Platform/MicrosoftWindows via ''Microsoft Entertainment Pack 4'' and ''Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack'' (there were also plans for a Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem version, but they were dropped). It involves the eponymous hero, Chip [=McCallahan=], who has met Melinda the Mental Marvel in the school science laboratory and must navigate through Melinda's "Clubhouse" (a series of 149 increasingly difficult puzzles) in order to prove himself and gain membership to the very exclusive Bit Buster Club.
8
9	The gameplay involves Chip moving about a number of tile-based 2D levels involving things like cloning machines, ice and force floor puzzles, and various monsters, attempting to finish a level before the time limit runs out. A sequel was produced, [[SequelEscalation adding numerous gameplay elements]], but [[ScrewedByTheNetwork due to legal issues]] remained unreleased for over 15 years. It was [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/348300/ finally released]] on {{Platform/Steam}} in May 2015, alongside a ([[https://store.steampowered.com/app/346850/Chips_Challenge_1/ free]]) UpdatedRerelease of the original built on the second game's engine.
10
11	Fans have created several {{Level Editor}}s for the first game, with which thousands of additional levels have been created. Some of the most well-received of these were assembled into the {{Fan Sequel}}s [=CCLP1=], [=CCLP2=], [=CCLP3=] and [=CCLP4=] (CCLP short for "Chip's Challenge Level Pack"). The official sequel also saw its own fanmade followup in October 2020.
12
13	During the time when the official sequel to the game languished in copyright limbo, a SpiritualSuccessor supervised by the creator of the original ''Chip's Challenge'' was released called ''Chuck's Challenge'' for iOS, which eventually received a 3D [[VideoGameRemake remake]] called ''Chuck's Challenge 3D'' also released for iOS in addition to PC, Mac and Android. The game is basically the same as ''Chip's Challenge'' with the addition of some new game elements and a new ExcusePlot. (Another attempt at a sequel is called [[http://puzzlestudio.org/ Puzzle Studio]].)
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15	----
16	!!Tropes used:
17
18	* AbsurdlyShortLevel: The first game has two such levels: the 31st (''Knot'') and the 39th (''Glut''). In the former, the objective is to collect all 118 computer chips present in only 29 seconds (it's not as hard as it sounds once the collection pattern is figured out); in the latter, you have to collect 29 chips (out of 880) in only 20 seconds.
19	* AWinnerIsYou:
20	** Completing level 144 or 149 of the Lynx ''Chip's Challenge 1'' [[spoiler: shows Melinda standing over Chip at his computer and them dancing at the E-Prom]].
21	** In the Steam version, the game ends with [[spoiler:"Great job, Chip! You finished the challenge! Now you can take Melinda the Mental Marvel to the Bit Busters E-Prom!" and your total score once you complete level 149]].
22	** ''Chip's Challenge 2'' ends with [[spoiler:the declaration that the challenge is completed, and Chip and Melinda are "true puzzle masters!"; then provides you with your total score]].
23	* TheAlcatraz: Level 124 (''The Prisoner'') uses this as the main concept. Chip is trapped within a prison-like chamber and has to use the surrounding elements to lure the patrolling monsters into the buttons that will free him. But that's only the beginning, as he then has to evade the monsters guarding the external area of the level so he can reach the exit safely. This level has inspired the creation of similar, fan-made levels that were eventually included in the {{Fan Sequel}}s, such as ''Escape from Chipkatraz'' and ''[[SdrawkcabName Zartacla]]'' in [=CCLP2=].
24	* {{Antepiece}}: Used occasionally, notably in ''Totally Fair'', [[spoiler: the solution to which is the solution to a later level, except that in the later level you can't see what you're doing.]]
25	* AntiFrustrationFeatures: In the Windows release of ''Chip's Challenge 1'', if you fail a level enough times, Melinda offers to let you just skip to the next one. However, you have to spend at least thirty seconds in any level first, so you can't just kill Chip over and over to skip a level.
26	* ArtShift:
27	** At the end of the Windows version of ''Chip's Challenge 1'', post [[HappyDance victory dance]], [[spoiler:a red-haired, glasses-wearing Chip appears on the shoulders of a crowd. He's no longer the simplified sprite he was throughout the game]].
28	** The Chip in the Windows version's icon is the same as the one in the game, except with different coloring.
29	* AsHimself: The eponymous Chuck from ''Chuck's Challenge'', referring to Chuck Sommerville, the original designer for ''Chip's Challenge''.
30	* AshFace: Chip after stepping on a fire in the original Windows version. This sprite isn't present in the Steam version.
31	* BigCreepyCrawlies: The first game has yellow-colored bugs (the exact species isn't confirmed, but their sprites are based on bumblebees so they're likely that) which walk around walled areas in a counterclockwise pattern. Like all mooks present in the game, they're as large as Chip and move as fast as he does, so dealing with them isn't always an easy task. These bugs also appear frequently in all fan sequels, but the official sequel ''Chip's Challenge 2'' replaces them with orange-colored ants, which retain the same behavior.
32	* BlatantLies: Level 146, ''Cake Walk''. The level is everything except that.
33	* BlockPuzzle: These make up about a third of the first game, the other two-thirds being [[TheMaze mazes]] and avoid-the-monster levels, or combinations of all three. The {{Fan Sequel}}s and custom levelsets have even more (including adaptations of famous ''Sokoban'' levels) and they're formidable.
34	* BookEnds: In the first level, you learn to use keys of different colors to open doors. In the second, you learn to use blocks to remove water. These are the only two things you do in the final level.
35	* {{Bowdlerization}}: In the Lynx version, Chip only goes through the challenge because he wants to go out with Melinda to the prom (with the cover art blurb implying he's in it for the sex). In the Microsoft version, this is toned down to Chip being genuinely interested in joining the Bit Busters club and proving his worth to his peers. ''Chip's Challenge 2'' sticks with the Lynx canon.
36	* CannotCrossRunningWater: Ghosts in the second game can phase through most solid tiles, but cannot move into water unless they have flippers. This is different from just not surviving in water - they actually turn away from it in contact as though it were solid, and they don't do this with any other lethal obstacles.
37	* CartoonBomb: There are red-colored round bombs that are instantly lethal to any living being, or object, upon contact. Chip can blow them up safely by either pushing a block onto them, or luring a mook. In the second game (official, not FanSequel), there are TNT packs that can be used by Chip and Melinda to blow up several objects.
38	* ColdIron: Ghosts can't phase through steel walls.
39	* CollisionDamage: Applies both to monsters and to sliding blocks.
40	* ColorblindMode: The original Windows port has an option to switch to black and white graphics, since monochrome displays were still in use at the time. Keys, doors and buttons are given unique patterns, rather than colors.
41	* ControlRoomPuzzle: Level 45, ''Monster Lab''. In the exit's room, there are multiple buttons pressed by the walkers which clone monsters across the whole level; in turn, the cloned monsters press buttons which clone new walkers, making this a perpetual cycle. Chip has to jam the cloning of the monsters across the level so no more walkers are produced, allowing him to reach the exit safely.
42	* CoOpMultiplayer: ''Chip's Challenge 2'' allows levels to use a split-screen view with one set of keys controlling the player on the left side and one set of keys controlling the player on the right side. Sadly, this is a level-specific feature and cannot be chosen by players, and a majority of official and fan-made levels only have one player in them, so this is almost never utilized.
43	* CuttingTheKnot:
44	** Level 18, ''Castle Moat''. The apparent solution is to push blocks into the moat to make a bridge across. [[spoiler:Under one of the blocks is a powerup that lets you simply swim across.]]
45	** Most levels have a Chip Socket blocking off the exit, which can only be cleared by collecting the required number of chips first. In [[spoiler:Level 20]], the designers forgot to put this in, so collecting chips is unnecessary, making the level much easier.
46	** In level 53, "Traffic Cop", you're supposed to use blocks to guide a series of Walkers to a door button that would leave Chip stranded if he were to trigger it himself. However, thanks to the way the area around said button is designed, you can just use two blocks to fill in the nearby water and hit the switch yourself, making an otherwise frustrating LuckBasedMission laughably easy.
47	** The Microsoft version has a few bugs making many levels significantly easier. One of them makes it possible to pass through Force Floors (one-way floors) in the wrong direction if you have a speed boost from sliding on ice. This makes several puzzles trivial (for example, in the aforementioned level 53 which was already broken, it becomes possible to win with ''zero'' blocks).
48	** Thanks to another bug in the Microsoft version, some [[MookMaker Clone Machines]] will fail to clone a monster in certain situations, and some monsters stuck in traps will stay in them even if the trap is released. This also makes several puzzles trivial.
49	* DevelopersRoom: Level 145, ''Thanks To'' (exclusive to the Windows version; the Lynx version has a fractal generator in its place).
50	* DoggedNiceGuy: Chip's portrayal in the ExcusePlot, of the "spectacular displays" variety.
51	* EpunymousTitle: The protagonist in the series is called Chip [=McCallahan=] and his main goal is to reach all the chips in a room to go to the next room.
52	* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Although only one monster (the teeth) actively chases Chip, all of them are extremely lethal, as are multiple types of floor.
53	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: The level ''Totally Unfair''. The premise of the level is the same as that of ''Totally Fair'', but it has to be completed ''blindly'', as Chip is no longer able to see through the inner parts of the level.
54	* ExcusePlot: As is evident from the first paragraph of this page. ''Chuck's Challenge'' follows suit: Original ''Chip's Challenge'' creator [[AsHimself Chuck Sommerville]] gets abducted by puzzle-loving alien Woop, who makes him create puzzles for Woop to solve. Chuck, [[RealitySubtext being a puzzle enthusiast himself]], happily obliges.
55	* FakeLongevity: Some of the hardest levels are also the longest, due to the extremely long periods of block pushing. Examples include level 33 (''On the Rocks''), 134 (''Pain'') and 146 (''Cake Walk'').
56	* FanSequel: [=CCLP1=], [=CCLP2=], [=CCLP3=] and [=CCLP4=] for the first game; [=CC2LP1=] for the second.
57	* FrictionlessIce: The ice in this game is so frictionless that Chip, monsters and blocks will slide at ''double'' their normal speed, straight ahead without being able to change direction, and not stop until they slide onto a floor-acting tile. Not even walls will stop them - they will ''bounce off'' any wall in their path and slide back in the opposite direction with no change in speed.
58	* GenderRestrictedAbility: Chip can use green keys as many times as he wants, and blue teeth run away from him, but red teeth chase him, and he needs the Cleats if he wants to walk on ice without sliding. Melinda can use yellow keys as many times as she wants, and red teeth run away from her, but blue teeth chase her, and she needs the Wellies if she wants to walk on dirt or gravel (excluding gravel found on railroads). There are also female restroom signs which Chip can never pass through, and male restroom signs which Melinda can never pass through.
59	* GuideDangIt: The first 30-50 levels can be beaten after solving puzzles and obstacles that rely on basic mechanics. Further levels, however, will resort to more advanced means, and some of them (like ''Perfect Match'' or ''Partial Post'', ''whose hint tiles aren't clear enough!'') will likely leave gamers stuck for a long time. Then, of course, there are the convoluted and mind-screwing mazes that will inevitably call for a step guide.
60	* HailfirePeaks: Every level where the four major elements (water, fire, ice and magnetism/suction) are equitably present. These levels include level 3 (''Lesson 3''), level 15 (''Elementary''), level 40 (''Floorgasborg''), and level 48 (''Mugger Square''). A closer relative to the [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie actual]] Hailfire Peaks is level 124, ''Fire Trap'', whose puzzles and obstacles are entirely based on fire and ice. Level 75, ''Steam'', is a maze made of fire and water.
61	* HardModeFiller: ''Totally Unfair'' (level 131) is nearly identical in layout to ''Totally Fair'' (level 122), but it's no longer possible to enter the teeth's area to carefully lure it to the button that disables a trap guarding the required chips. Therefore, the only option is to lure it ''blindly'' from the distance (which requires full knowledge of the layout by playing level 122 first).
62	* HaveANiceDaySmile: The trope is referenced in the level ''Nice Day'' (17th in the progression order), which consists of the eponymous character collecting computer chips arranged to show the image of a face smiling.
63	%%* HaveANiceDeath: "Bummer!"
64	* HintSystem: There are levels which include a yellow-colored Hint Tile. If Chip steps onto it, he'll receive a hint or advice related to the level's solution (in the first eight levels, the Tile teaches him the elements that will be present over the course of the game). Not all levels have a Hint Tile, so in many of them the player will have to figure out what to do on their own. In ''Chip's Challenge 2'', there are levels with multiple Hint Tiles that each provide a distinct advice, something that wasn't possible in the first game due to technical reasons.
65	* InconvenientlyPlacedConveyorBelt: Among the hazards is conveyer belts (known in-game as ''force floors''), frequently leading either backwards in the level, or into another, more fatal hazard. But there's a powerup (suction cup shoes) that lets you negate their effects.
66	* InterchangeableAntimatterKeys: Locks vanish when opened, and so does the key, with the exception of the green keys (yellow if you're playing as Melinda in the sequel.)
67	* InsurmountableWaistHighFence: The monsters are blocked by uncollected computer chips. (Despite this, Level 39, ''Glut'', starts out with several teeth monsters standing on top of chips.) They can walk over keys, however.
68	* InvisibleWall: Comes in two varieties: one that permanently appears after you bump into it, and one that becomes invisible again after a short time.
69	* TheMaze: If it's not a BlockPuzzle, it's probably this.
70	* KaizoTrap: In levels 46 and 66, the chip socket (which only open when all chips are collected) forks its route into three, only one of which contains the exit; in the other two, you'll fall into a trap [[FakeLongevity that forces you to repeat the current level]].
71	* KaleidoscopeHair: The various ports each chose their own colour for Melinda's hair in the victory screen. She's blonde in most versions, brunette in the DOS port (if you have an EGA or VGA), and magenta-haired if you have a CGA. In the sequel, where Melinda is a playable character, she's none of the above -- her hair is ginger.
72	* LevelGoal: The first game and all of its {{Fan Sequel}}s, as well as the official sequel, have a blue-colored portal that is usually blocked by a socket that will only open when the required amount of (computer) chips is collected.
73	* LimitedLoadout: You can only hold up to four non-key items at a time. This never comes up in the first ''Chip's Challenge'', because there's only four non-key items that Chip can pick up, and walking over an item he already has just causes that item to be erased.
74	* LockAndKeyPuzzle: The game makes use of color-coded keys and doors in many ways for this purpose, with the player being required to collect a certain number of chips each level to get through the gate to the exit. Two examples in particular stand out:
75	** Level 135 (''Trust Me'') requires Chip to find one yellow key to open the yellow door blocking the exit. The problem is that, while there are multiple keys, many of them are either tied to deadly traps or simply inaccessible; as a result, he has to navigate through the whole level to figure out which is the right key to collect. There's a glitch in the Microsoft version that allows an earlier key to be grabbed without consequence to finish the level more quickly, though.
76	** Level 137 (''Goldkey'') features many yellow keys as well as many yellow doors. The catch here is that certain doors have to be opened in a particular order, as going through either a wrong path or a certain area too ahead of time will render the level UnwinnableByDesign, forcing the player to restart it.
77	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Chip's reaction to being drowned, eaten by a bug, or burned alive? ''"Bummer."''
78	* MarathonLevel: On The Rocks, Cityblock, Pain, Writer's Block, Chipmine... and they're all nightmarish to play.
79	* TheMaze: Being a puzzle game that evokes several classic tropes common in its genre, it features levels with uniquely-designed mazes. For example, level 13 (''Southpole'') is a maze made of FrictionlessIce where Chip can only take turns when he reaches a warm tile, level 16 (''Cellblocked'') features recessed walls that prevent backtrack and thus will force Chip to restart should he meet a dead-end, level 57 (''Strange Maze'') is a multicolored maze whose walls are made up of other setpieces (including trapped enemies), level 67 (''Chipmine'') is entirely covered of walls that can be either real or fake (though unveiling the fake ones leaves their paths permanently visible, so it's not as bad as it sounds), level 88 (''Spirals'') revolves around navigating through a maze of thin walls while escaping an incoming swarm of random-moving enemies, and so on. There's even one level near the end with a maze where the majority of walls are ''permanently invisible'', but there's a way to figure out its layout by paying attention to the paths' shapes.
80	* MeaningfulName:
81	** Level 34 is called ''Cypher'', and in it you can decipher passwords that take you to later levels.
82	** The ''Southpole'' level [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this in its hint.
83	* MercyMode: Blow a level enough times and Melinda will reward your perseverance and let you skip it. You have to actually waste enough time on the level first, however.
84	* MindScrew: Level 111, ''[[BlatantLies Time Lapse]]''. For one, the level has unlimited time; secondly, the level's mechanics don't seem to work coherently in the PC version. Are the bugs in the northwestern portion supposed to press a green switch that locks the entire inner area of the level (because they don't)? The reason for these weirdnesses is due to the gameplay differences from the Lynx version. In it, the green doors leading to the exit are toggled permanently after a while because the bugs do manage to reach the button that activates the switcheroo. One of the many porting errors gives you much more leeway.
85	* MookMaker: Clone Machines. Stepping on a red button causes the machine it controls to spit out a clone of the mook (or [[BlockPuzzle block]]) pictured on it, if the tile in front of it is unoccupied. Several puzzles revolve around this mechanic, which proves to be versatile.
86	* MooksAteMyEquipment:
87	** The Thief/Spy panel steals all your footwear and equipment when you walk over it. The sequel introduces a second variant steals your keys instead, as well as a special pickup you can "bribe" both panels with so they don't take all your other stuff when you walk over them.
88	** In a somewhat more literal example, monsters can erase blue keys if they move on top of them (with the exception of the Microsoft version).
89	* MooksButNoBosses: A large portion of the game is spent dodging, killing or even ''creating'' mooks (through [[MookMaker Clone Machines]]), but there's no boss in any of the 149 levels of the game, or any of the fan sequels. This also applies to the official sequel.
90	* MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: The aptly named teeth monster, which happens to be the only one that actively chases Chip to eat him.
91	* NeedleInAStackOfNeedles: In level 135, ''Trust Me'', you need a yellow key to exit. There are plenty of them scattered throughout the level, but most are impossible to collect (or you can't escape if you do), at least in the original version. A glitch in the Microsoft version allows you to a grab a key very near your starting location (the glitch is that the 'inescapable' setup doesn't work) and beat the level in less than ten seconds.
92	* NoAntagonist: In both games. The challenges are cruel, but the creators of them are never blamed.
93	* NostalgiaLevel: Level 194 in ''Chip's Challenge 2'', aptly named ''Memories''. Its design incorporates setpieces and snippets from several levels that appeared in the first game, including the last level. A similar concept is also seen in the first game's {{Fan Sequel}}s, though with different executions.
94	* OneHitPointWonder: Both for Chip when hitting a hazard or creature, and for the creatures themselves who are vulnerable to water and/or fire.
95	* OnlyTheKnowledgableMayPass: "Trial and Error?" in ''Chip's Challenge 2'' requires the player to figure out three missing numbers among the first 11 numbers in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_number Fibonacci sequence]] in order to beat the level. However, the level also subverts the trope because, as the title suggests, it's also possible to just brute force your way through the puzzle through trial-and-error.
96	* PixelHunt: Any puzzle involving finding a path through fake/invisible walls and/or finding items under blocks. There are many levels based on this sort of puzzle, such as ''Mishmesh'', ''Scoundrel'', ''Rink'' (which combines it with FrictionlessIce), ''Chipmine'', etc. ''Vanishing Act'' starts out as a normal maze, but becomes this as you clear out the dirt making the invisible walls indistinguishable. The worst offender, though, is the [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon very definitely final level]] ''Special''. It consists of blocks scattered around everywhere, with one of them hiding the exit. You also have to plop blocks into water to get around. The problem is that the majority of the blocks have ''[[TrialAndErrorGameplay fire underneath them]]''.
97	* PressurePlate: The brown-colored buttons have to be kept pressed, whether by Chip or a block, so the traps connected to them remain disabled.
98	* ProlongedVideoGameSequel: The original game is already very long, with 149 levels. Then came ''Chip's Challenge 2'' with a whopping ''200'' levels, and many of them have a more complex design due to the larger number of setpieces to deal with. This is also reflected in their respective fan sequels: The four Level Packs built upon the engine of the first game have each 149 levels, while the fan sequel to the second game bumps the total to 200.
99	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The soundtrack to ''Chip's Challenge 2'' (and the Steam version of the original game) consists of Creator/ScottJoplin tunes.
100	* RaceLift: In the DOS port (if EGA or VGA graphics are selected) the Chip sprite in the game has brown skin. He's still drawn as white in the opening and victory screens, though.
101	* {{Retraux}}: ''Chip's Challenge 2'' was released in almost the exact same state that it would've been released in if it were released within the intended timeframe of the late 1990s, thus resulting in this trope as the game heavily shows its age. Even going so far as to showing the achievements you unlock in a Dialogue Box instead of using the Steam UI.
102	* SchizophrenicDifficulty: After the first 20-30 levels or so, the game starts venturing into this.
103	* SecretLevel: Levels 146 through 149, accessible only when you crack a code in level 34. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in the remake, where these levels can be accessed normally.[[note]]Level 145's password isn't hinted or shown anywhere in the game, as in the Platform/AtariLynx version it only shows a Mandelbrot fractal application, while in the PC version it's a playable credits scene.[[/note]] All the {{Fan Sequel}}s (the ''Chip's Challenge Level Packs'') also have each levels 145 to 149 as secret, but the official sequel ''Chip's Challenge 2'' doesn't due to it eschewing the password system (it has 200 levels but none of them are secret).
104	* SignatureSoundEffect: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N32ZTPtD9AM "Bummer!"]]
105	* ShoutOut:
106	** Level 73, ''Morton''. It is named after singer and talk show host Morton Downey Jr., and your primary enemy is the teeth (an allusion to the talk show's logo).
107	** Part of the narrative of [=CCLP1=] involves Chip riding an elevator out of an underground facility controlled by a [[AIIsACrapshoot power-mad AI]] to find that the other side of the elevator is disguised as a simple metal shed in the middle of a huge wheat field. This is a reference to ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''. The game even lampshades it by mentioning that the scene rings a bell in Chip's mind.
108	* SlippySlideyIceWorld: This game has quite a few ice levels, but the most infamous is ''Doublemaze''.
109	* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Chuck's Challenge'', in which an alien named Woop recruits original game designer Chuck Somerville to build ''Chip's Challenge''-style puzzles aboard his spaceship.
110	* SprintShoes: The Speed Boots in ''Chip's Challenge 2''. They work like any other items, meaning they can be used by any entity that can pick up and use items.
111	* StuckItems: The second game gives you the ability to drop items, but only those in the right slot. Keys, in the left slot, can never be dropped.
112	* SuperDrowningSkills: By default, water is just another obstacle, requiring the right footwear to navigate. You can walk into the water, and die, one square away from land; but with flippers, Chip can swim without any issue. This also applies to all enemies except the gliders (which, true to their name, can hover to pass above water).
113	* TankGoodness: The blue tanks, which can be operated through blue buttons. Their most prominent levels are 72 (''Reverse Alley'') and 103 (''Memory''). The sequel introduces yellow tanks, as well.
114	* TeamworkPuzzleGame: ''Chip's Challenge 2'' delves into this for some levels, such as ''Double Trouble'' and ''Foursome''.
115	* TeenGenius: Melinda, who, in the first game, was "preoccupied in the upper levels, creating mental models to test Hawking equations on the origin of the universe."
116	* TimedMission: Only 29 levels aren't timed in the entire game.
117	* TimeKeepsOnTicking: The time limit will continue passing when reading the hints located on the question mark circle tiles. Although it doesn't really matter, since you can pause the game while you're reading them. [[note]]When the game is paused, the action window is covered, but the info window, where the hints show up, is not.[[/note]]
118	* TogglingSetpiecePuzzle:
119	** The Toggle Wall is a tile surrounded by green-colored outlines. Some of these walls are inactive and can be traversed as regular ground, while others are active and will act as walls. When a green button is pressed, all Toggle Walls will alternate their states, making it so the ones previously acting as impassable walls are toggled into passable ground, and vice versa. Also, the connection is global, so pressing any of the green buttons present in the level will yield the same effect. The game requires you to use them in all sorts of ways, and sometimes it's a mook that is pressing the button(s) (in one case, you even have to ''lure'' a mook into doing this).
120	** The blue-colored tanks, which are usually MechaMooks are sometimes used this way due to their connection to blue buttons. By default, a tank will face forward onto a specific side and stick there, but pressing a blue button will make them turn around to move at the opposite direction until they hit a wall. Some levels, like ''Lesson 4'' (level 4) and ''Firetrap'' (level 124) take advantage of this, as the local passageways are obstructed by tanks and you have to make them move by pressing the blue buttons so you can proceed. The level ''Memory'' (103) combines tanks ''and'' toggle walls, making up for [[https://wiki.bitbusters.club/images/6/61/Cc1_full_map_level_103.png an intricate (but pretty-looking) maze]].
121	* TrainingFromHell: Some of the block pushing levels. If you can beat them, all but the worst block puzzles will ''never'' slow you down again.
122	* TrialAndErrorGameplay:
123	** In ''Cellblocked'', take the wrong path and you're stuck. The level's hint even tells you at the beginning how to restart the level.
124	** Level 140, ''[[MeaningfulName Icedeath]]'', relies on guessing which direction to take at every point on the ice of which typically only one of the three new directions leads to safe ground, while the other two lead to a [[SuperDrowningSkills watery grave]]. Usually. Sometimes there are even false paths that all lead to death. Of course, you can always map the stage out manually, which is recommended since the solution consists of 60-some odd moves.
125	** The final secret level (''Special'') hides the exit square underneath blocks. You need to push them out of the way to find it. However, most of the blocks on the level have fire underneath, and will kill you instantly if you push them. You can move blocks from your sides in the game's Atari Lynx version (a technique known as "block slapping"), which eliminates the risk of burning; however, you cannot do this in the Windows version, forcing you to rely on luck to push straight the blocks without fire.
126	* TwoKeyedLock: A unique version appears in the 121st level, ''Perfect Match''. There's a meandering corridor from whence cloned fireballs are moving to die in a moat of water. Right in front of the clone machine is a toggle door that opens and closes when the level's green buttons are being pressed. Ideally, the door should be closed so the corridor clears up and Chip can reach the exit, but in the central area of the level there are two paths where fireballs move, and each path happens to have a green button as well (and they're pressed whenever Chip or a mook steps onto them). The trope comes into play when Chip makes it so those two buttons are pressed at the same time, canceling out the toggle command and leaving the clone machine's door in its current state (open or closed); this is easier said than done, because it requires pushing a block to kill any surplus fireballs in one of the routes (the other cannot be manipulated), and any mistake will require him to clone new fireballs in that route to recalibrate. Chip can then press a green button in his area in case the toggle door remains open (after the fireballs' pressing match is done) in order to close it, allowing him to finally reach the exit.
127	* UnendingEndCard: The Windows version of the first game ends this way, showing Chip being cheered by the Bit Buster after he completes the final level (whether the 144th or the secret 149th) in Melinda's clubhouse. The game does save your progress, but if you want to return to a level, you have to quit and then enter again.
128	* UnexplainedRecovery: The only explanation for how Chip comes back after all those deaths is one sentence to this effect [[AllThereInTheManual in the help file]].
129	* UnwinnableByDesign: Many levels become unwinnable if you make even the slightest misstep. ''Cellblocked'' is not only one of the first levels where it will happen a lot, but the hint you get even tells you how to restart the level.
130	* VictoryPose: At the end of the game [[spoiler:the camera zooms in on Chip as he waves his arms up and down in a kind of victory dance.]]
131	* WordSaladTitle: A few levels.
132	** ''Oorto Geld''. It's an anagram of "Tog(g)le Door". The level is about toggling doors.
133	** ''Floorgasborg'', a smorgasbord of floor types.
134	** ''Teleblock'', because it's about teleporting blocks.
135	** ''Telenet''. It's a net with teleports in it.
136	** ''Chchchips''. This level consists of long trails of chips, which makes the title an [[WrittenSoundEffect onomatopoeia]] of sorts, especially in the Microsoft version where the sound effect for picking up a chip sounds a lot like "chp", or "chp-chp-chp-chp" when collecting a string of chips.
137	----
138	->''"Bummer!"''

Context VideoGame / ChipsChallenge