Chip’s Challenge was released about 20 years ago and it was a very well received PC puzzle game, but it was always a mystery that there wasn’t an IP revival. And almost out of the Blue, a sequel was made and it has been re-christened as Chuck’s Challenge 3D. What we get is a fun little time-waster.

Made by the same person who created Chip’s Challenge, Chuck’s Challenge 3D is a 3D sequel to that title, and the game is more or less a pretty decent recreation of the original title. It’s interesting to see contrast in how much of a graphical leap the game has made, while pretty much retaining all of the original’s gameplay. Instead of playing as a nondescript human male, you are playing as a purple alien. One who has abducted Chuck so he can design puzzle levels for the alien to complete. He does all this because he is a bored thrill seeker; I guess Chuck must have been bored too, as he has no complaints about being abducted.

Your goal is to get to the portal in the level in order to advance. There are a variety of different ways to accomplish this based on the level’s theme. Be it activating switches, collecting keys or orbs, or pushing blocks out of the way, or making bridges with them, you will always have to solve the puzzles quickly to get the best times. There are also various power-ups and secret passages that will help you accomplish your goal and clear the many environmental obstacles. Use tacks to walk normally on ice, ice boots to briefly walk across lava, or magnet boots to walk across moving tiles are just some of the power-ups you will come across. The levels themselves increase in complexity as you make your way through the game’s 125 levels. You can also turn back time to reset your missteps that lead to your death. If you want additional challenges, you can download the weekly challenge.

There is also some minor social media integration, but instead of using it like Miiverse and posting your accomplishments, the game just takes you to its respective fan pages. You can also create your own levels, or use the search feature finds other player’s creations. There isn’t anything in the way of voice acting, and the soundtrack is just serviceable music that merely exists to keep the game from being silent.

The visuals are also decent, and they don’t really have the fidelity of modern games, but that’s okay, since they are adequate, and are on a level that even basic rigs can play the game without difficulty. The game seems pretty polished and bug free, as I’ve not run into any kind of trouble while playing. It even includes gamepad support, which is always nice. It’s also only $10, so it’s not a terrible hit on the wallet, and it will only take up less than 400 MB of hard drive space. So if you are looking for a decent puzzle game, give Chuck’s Challenge 3D a try.

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