ChipWits Returns: An Early Mac Game Is Reborn | popgeeks.com

When the Macintosh launched in 1984, it was the first personal computer the mass market had seen that did things we now take for granted: a visual point-and-click interface and a mouse to guide it were new concepts. Before then, you operated computers by typing in commands. The tech world was changing rapidly then, as it continues to do now, and Doug Sharp and Mike Johnston knew programming was going to be an important skill.

So later that year, they introduced ChipWits to the Mac: an educational video game designed to teach players of all ages the mechanics of coding. Using a visual programming language of chips placed on a large board, players chained together these chips to automate a ChipWit and direct its actions. Through programming the ChipWit, they could solve a series of tasks and challenges. It’s now 40 years later and coding remains an in-demand skill, so Sharp thought it was time for the game to return.

The new version of ChipWits will play much like the old one. You’re given a series of missions for your ChipWit to complete, and it can only understand the instructions you give it. Different chip combinations will make the bot do different things. Finding the best combos will result in the best time — an online leaderboard will keep track of who solved each puzzle with the least number of chips and steps. Remember that in programming, efficiency is key!

• A Legacy Reboot: Bringing the original 1984 game to a new generation of gamers, an accessible introduction to programming.
• Easy to Learn: No prior experience required. Learn how to control your ChipWit in the step-by-step tutorial that will have you programming in no time.
• Hard to Master: Missions build upon themselves with new challenges, chips, and mechanics. Later levels can have players using over a hundred chips across multiple chip boards.
• Efficiency is Key: Optimize your solutions to maximize your score, minimize the number of chips used, and minimize the number of steps in your program to secure a top spot on the global leaderboards!
• ChipWit Challenges: An expanding collection of standalone puzzles that challenge the ChipWits community to compete for the highest score or most efficient solution. Complete past challenges and check back regularly for new ones!
• Old and New: 8 original classic missions from the first ChipWits, and over 55 new puzzles and missions with revamped chips and mechanics will be in the full release.

Look for a free demo of the new ChipWits to hit Steam next week, on May 28. It’ll contain 15 different levels, including two ChipWit Challenges, and two classic missions from the original 1984 ChipWits. The full game has no revealed release date yet.