Chip Builder is a puzzle and strategy game that teaches you chip design

Chip Builder is a story-driven puzzle game that teaches digital logic by having players assemble a computer from basic components. Cast as a junior engineer at fictional ChipCorp, players progress from transistor switches and logic gates to adders, memory, an arithmetic logic unit, and a complete CPU they program themselves. Its 12 chapters and 49 levels introduce one concept at a time, including machine code, assembly, algorithms, pipelining, caching, and instruction-set design. The central teaching approach is hands-on: players wire and test their designs rather than merely reading explanations.

The game also connects computer architecture to chip production and the wider industry. In its manufacturing chapter, players follow their design through the real-world process: purifying silicon from quartz sand, growing a crystal, slicing wafers, printing circuit patterns with light, building layers, testing dies, and packaging working chips. Later, they design an AI accelerator using multiply-accumulate cells and a systolic grid. The final chapter shifts to turn-based company strategy, asking players to run ChipCorp over 35 years while navigating business decisions and geopolitical issues such as export controls. Developed by Zürich-based bitheap GmbH for Windows, the game is available through Steam and the Epic Games Store and is rated for general audiences.