Low Score Challenge

A normal goal of Chip's Challenge is to achieve as high a score as possible; however, the Low Score Challenge considers the question of the lowest possible score one can attain while still completing every level. Although no scoreboards track low score attempts, it is still a question of theoretical interest to some in the community.

Score contribution

Level bonus

Most of a player's score comes from level bonuses, whether attempting high scores or low scores. Each level bonus starts as 500 times the level number. In MSCC, each restart reduces this by 20% (rounding down) until it is below 500. The minimum possible total level bonus for 149 levels is 66,344. As Tile World and the Chip's Challenge 2 engine do not deduct level bonuses on failed attempts, their corresponding minimum is 5,587,500.

Time bonus

The remaining points come from the time bonus. This is 10 times the number of seconds left at level completion, as shown by the in-game timer. Untimed levels are treated as having 0 seconds remaining. In MS, the minimum time one can finish a timed level with is 1 second, while in Lynx and Steam, the timer continues briefly after level completion, making it possible to finish timed levels with 0 seconds left. In either case, this can be achieved in most levels by simply solving the level normally but waiting by the exit for the timer to tick down.

Extra bonus

In CC2, levels can have bonus flags, which add points to the level score when collected. These are typically nonexistent, avoidable, or removable with thieves, but there are some levels in the stock CC2 levels and in the CC2 community level packs that have unavoidable points in this category, such as Memories.

Chip's Challenge 1

Chip's Challenge 1 has 120 timed levels, and therefore a minimum possible score of 67,544 in MSCC. The first known reference to this calculation was by Alice Voith in the late 90s, but it wasn't actually shown to be possible until 2020. Currently, no player has achieved said score.

Beware of Bug

Collecting the chips in Beware of Bug normally will result in the glider coming back along with one of the paramecium, which together will leave the exit as the only place to hide. Completing the level with 1 second left involves collecting the first chip just as the first paramecium passes it, such that the paramecium spins in a circle instead of continuing toward the water to drown. This paramecium can eventually keep the glider trapped in the first row.

Slo Mo

Due to the randomness of the blobs, it was not known for certain whether a score of 1 second remaining could be achieved on Slo Mo until December of 2018, when Kacper Leszczyński, using SuperCC, showed that it could be done. This score has not been achieved in actual play.

Jumping Swarm

A score of 1 on Jumping Swarm was long considered to be impossible, due to the ever increasing number of walkers in the level as time goes on. However, in June of 2020, David Stolp, using SuperCC, showed that with enough luck the walkers would get backed up on the force floors far enough that one would bounce back toward the clone machine and break the cloning mechanism, causing only a limited number of walkers to clone. This score has not been achieved in actual play, and due to the extreme luck required is unlikely to ever be achieved.