Bill Darrah
Bill Darrah is a professional puzzle designer who is best known in the CC community for designing approximately 1/3 of the original Chip's Challenge levels, as well as 7 levels that were included in Chip's Challenge 2.
"I hired [Bill] as a contractor to design levels for CC1. He was the only contributor who wasn't a full time Epyx employee. I knew him, because we were already friends and he had a passion for designing puzzles, and had written for 2 text adventures."
-- Chuck Sommerville
Bill's level design style is often distinctly recognizable for its homogeneity, mathematical precision, and emphasis on sprawling mazes. His levels in many cases are known for being equal parts beautiful, tedious, and difficult.
Trivia
- Darrah has an online shop called Yorkhouse Puzzles and Surprises where he designs and sells mechanical puzzles. The logo bears an obvious resemblance to the castles in the CC1 levels Yorkhouse and Castle Moat.
- According to Joshua Bone, there is a word-of-mouth story from Chuck Sommerville about the level Castle Moat. Darrah reportedly designed the level, and Sommerville later inserted the now-infamous water shield shortcut without telling him.
Levels in official packs
Chip's Challenge 1
It is not known exactly which levels in CC1 Bill Darrah designed, as even he does not fully remember. In a series of emails with Joshua Bone in 2020, Darrah was able to confirm the following levels with varying degrees of certainty.
Levels Darrah is certain he made
| # | Name | Darrah's comments |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Castle Moat | Absolutely sure it's mine |
| 23 | Blobnet | Absolutely sure it's mine |
| 65 | Amsterdam | Absolutely sure it's mine |
| 73 | Morton | Absolutely sure it's mine |
| 88 | Spirals | Absolutely sure it's mine |
| 105 | Short Circuit | Absolutely sure it's mine |
| 136 | Doublemaze | Absolutely sure it's mine |
| 138 | Partial Post | Absolutely sure it's mine |
| 139 | Yorkhouse | Absolutely sure it's mine |
| 142 | Pentagram | Absolutely sure it's mine |
Levels Darrah thinks he probably made
| # | Name | Darrah's comments |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Brushfire | Mine, I think |
| 16 | Cellblocked | Pretty sure it's mine |
| 25 | Blink | Sure looks like mine |
| 30 | Mishmesh | Sure looks like mine |
| 32 | Scavenger Hunt | Sure looks like mine |
| 44 | Refraction | Pretty sure this is mine. |
| 47 | Pier Seven | Pretty sure this is mine. |
| 61 | Rink | Sure looks like mine |
| 67 | Chipmine | Sure looks like mine |
| 81 | Writers Block | Probably mine, not sure |
| 85 | Telenet | Probably mine, not sure |
| 100 | Colony | Sure looks like mine |
| 101 | Apartment | Sure looks like mine |
| 103 | Memory | Sure looks like mine |
| 143 | Stripes? | Probably mine |
| 144 | Fireflies | Looks like mine |
| 147 | Force Field | Sure looks like mine |
Levels Darrah thinks he might have made
| # | Name | Darrah's comments |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Digger | Could be mine. I wanted to make a level that could be played boldly and fast or safely and slow |
| 22 | Forced Entry | Might be mine, not sure |
| 28 | Ping Pong | Might be mine. not sure |
| 31 | Knot | Might be mine. not sure |
| 50 | Digdirt | Might be mine, not sure |
| 51 | I Slide | Looks like mine, not sure |
| 72 | Reverse Alley | Might be mine, not sure |
| 75 | Steam | Might be mine, not sure |
| 80 | Vanishing Act | Might be mine, not sure |
| 94 | Now You See It | Might be mine, not sure |
| 115 | Oversea Delivery | Might be mine, not sure |
| 130 | Ice Cube | Might be mine, not sure |
Levels Darrah isn't sure if he made
| # | Name | Darrah's comments |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Teleblock | This doesn't look like style, but it does seem like my kind of theme |
| 21 | Iceberg | No memory |
| 64 | Spooks | ? |
| 91 | Jumping Swarm | No memory |
| 148 | Mind Block | Might be mine, probably not |
Levels Darrah thinks he did not make
| # | Name | Darrah's comments |
|---|---|---|
| 37 | Seeing Stars | I doubt this is mine |
| 53 | Traffic Cop | I doubt this is mine |
| 87 | Cityblock | I think this is not mine |
| 97 | Metastable to Chaos | Not mine. I should remember who, but I don't |
| 98 | Shrinking | I doubt this is mine |
| 117 | The Marsh | This resembles my kind of level, but I don't think it is |
| 134 | Pain | I doubt this was mine |
| 146 | Cake Walk | I doubt this was mine |
Chip's Challenge 2
| # | Name |
|---|---|
| 8 | Swivels |
| 107 | Wing and a Prayer |
| 122 | Fire and Ice |
| 127 | Bomber Maze |
| 156 | In the Slime |
| 196 | Swamp |
| 198 | Chip Off the Block |