Is Chip's Challenge on Steam?

No. Chip's Challenge is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.

What platforms is Chip's Challenge on?

Chip's Challenge is available on Atari Lynx, Nintendo Switch.

When did Chip's Challenge release?

Chip's Challenge was first released on December 31, 1989.

Chip's Challenge

Dec 31, 1989PuzzleStrategyAtari Lynx Nintendo Switch

Chip's Challenge — frequently asked questions

Is Chip's Challenge on Steam?: No. Chip's Challenge is not distributed on Steam, so there is no Steam Charts or SteamDB player count for it. Its live popularity is tracked here via Twitch viewership instead.
What platforms is Chip's Challenge on?: Chip's Challenge is available on Atari Lynx, Nintendo Switch.
When did Chip's Challenge release?: Chip's Challenge was first released on December 31, 1989.

About Chip's Challenge

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.

Summary via IGDB.

Chip's Challenge on Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).

Game details

Platforms: Atari Lynx, Nintendo Switch
Developer: Epyx
Publisher: Atari Corporation
Game modes: Single player
Themes: Action, Science fiction

Details via IGDB.

Every version compared

Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release

Platform	Year	Loose	Complete	Sealed
Atari Lynx	1989	$21	$25	$50

Also released on: Nintendo Switch. We haven’t priced or authenticated that version yet.

Collector value & authenticity

Atari Lynx · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-08-07

Loose

$21

Complete

$25

Sealed

$50

Region: NA+EU+JP
Released: 1989
Authenticity: Low

On Evercade + PC (The Lynx Collection / Epyx Collection: Handheld) — the cartridge is now a collectibleLow counterfeit risk

Atari Lynx prices, all games & how to spot a fake

The best-regarded game in the launch line-up, and one of the cheapest things on the platform.

Chuck Sommerville's tile-based puzzler debuted here in 1989 before spreading to nearly every platform of the next decade via Microsoft Entertainment Pack. The Lynx original is the version everything else descends from, and the design — a fixed grid, no scrolling, no fine detail — is about as kind to a degraded LCD as anything gets.

It was a Japanese release through Mumin Corporation, and it is on both Evercade and PC today. As a launch title it was made in quantity, which is why one of the platform's genuinely great games costs less than lunch.

What the press said at the time

“Chip's Challenge represents the first puzzle-type game for the Lynx. Chip's doesn't take the boring repetitive approach, however...”
— Electronic Gaming Monthly #9, April 1990

Cartridge & preservation record

Cartridge ROM capacity 1 megabit (128 KB), measured from the preserved cartridge image.

Catalogue part number PA2028

Cartridge data from the No-Intro preservation database (metadata only — names, sizes and checksums, no game data).

Worth knowing

Atari's own advertising inflated the level count. Atari's multi-page insert in EGM #28 (November 1991) banner-headed the game "OVER 185 LEVELS TO COMPLETE!!" — about 35 more than the cartridge actually holds. A straightforward overclaim in the publisher's own copy, and a caution against reading period advertising as a specification sheet.
150 levels, and a plot the game never tells you. EGM's April 1990 spec block records 150 levels of play, rated Hard — the largest level count on the platform at launch. The story behind it, per EGM #21: "Nerdy Chip McCallahan has a crush on Melinda the Mental Marvel and would do anything to join her computer club."

Before you buy

Complete copies barely cost more than loose ones, so there is no reason to buy this one loose. Three shell variants exist; flat first-run copies are the collectible version.