Source: Computer Fun – Volume 1, Issue 2 – May 1984
In the Chips is a somewhat obscure game released in 1983 and for good reason. It is a business simulator in which you are in charge of running a software company. This game was available for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, Apple II and DOS based PCs.
In the Chips is business simulator that was marketed as an educational game. You are in charge of a software company that must juggle marketing, prices, advertising and other factors in order to make your company successful. The length of the game is user selectable in quarters. Your goal is to outperform your competition in that time period. There is also a “monopoly” mode in which you try to force your opponent out of business by undercutting them. You can play against the computer or a human opponent.
Business simulators are not exactly the most exciting type of game to play. I like turn-based strategy games but pretending to run a software company doesn’t appeal to me all that much. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this game but I imagine that they could have replaced “software” with virtually any product and the game would have been the same.
If you do want to give this a try, you’ll have to track down an original or use emulation. I doubt the version matters all that much. The VIC-20 version is unique in that there is a cartridge version (if you can find it).
The ad above appeared in the May 1984 issue of Creative Computing. It does not mention the Apple II version so imagine it was released later than the other version. Screen shots above are from the Commodore 64 version of the game.
