HARD CHIP
FILE // HARDCHIP.IO PLATFORM // PC / STEAM

HARD CHIP// build processors. from the gate up.

An open-ended 3D simulation and puzzle game about designing real CPUs. Model propagation delay. Plan your floor. Route every trace. No abstractions - only transistors, signals, and the laws of silicon.

▶ PLAY ON STEAM → LEARN MORE →
GenreSimulation · Puzzle · Engineering
Physics modelPropagation delay · Per-gate timing
Build targetsSpeed · Volume · Complexity · Transistors
ContentStory campaign · Gauntlets · Sandbox · Gallery
CommunityDiscord · Reddit · Wiki.gg
FIG. 1 - OFFICIAL GAMEPLAY TRAILER HARD CHIP
SUBMISSIONS // 192,598◆ COMMUNITY DESIGNS // 830◆ DISCORD MEMBERS // 400+◆ NEXT EVENT // TO BE ANNOUNCED◆ WIKI ENTRIES // 24◆ LOCALES SUPPORTED // 8◆ SANDBOX MODE // UNLIMITED◆
/01

// what you will actually do

FEATURE SET · v0.1.7.166
F-01
Hard Chip campaign screenshot
01
Propagation delay
Every gate takes time. Every wire has length. Trace length is volume is delay. Your design is only as fast as its worst path.
F-02
02
Floor planning
Place every NAND, latch, and bus by hand. Create beautiful and intricate designs that optimize every metrics.
Hard Chip floor planning screenshot
F-03
Hard Chip metrics screenshot
03
Multi-metric scoring
Speed (in Ticks). Volume. Complexity (in Blocks). Transistors (in MOS). Pick your trade-off.
F-04
Hard Chip campaign screenshot
04
Story campaign
From the first NOT gate to your first working CPU - a guided arc that guides by making you build. No tutorials. Only specs.
F-05
05
Gauntlet events
Weekly timed challenges with fresh constraints. Global leaderboards, ghost replays, and seasonal rankings.
Hard Chip gauntlet screenshot
F-06
06
Community gallery
Share circuits. Study the top solutions and see exactly why they're fast. Open learning, one chip at a time.
</> 192,598 designs ☆ 830 shared
/02

// the campaign is a curriculum

STORY MODE · 1 CHAPTER (7 to come)
01
One in, one out
Basic wire to connect signals
✓ CLEARED
02
The conflict
Shorts are deadly
✓ CLEARED
03
Compliance
Follow the rules
✓ CLEARED
04
Crossing states
Build in 3D
✓ CLEARED
05
Two To One (PMOS)
The foundation of digital logic
● IN PROGRESS
06
Alter ego (NMOS)
The other half of digital logic
◇ LOCKED
07
The Merger
Transistors can be shaped
◇ LOCKED
08
Compacting
Build a NOT gate · 1 NMOS · 1 PMOS
◇ LOCKED
…
65 stages total
ending in: a working 8-bit ALU of your own
◇ LOCKED
Hard Chip editor workspace

Chapters are spec documents, not tutorials. You get a truth table, a set of constraints, and a blank die. Everything between is the game. A perfect solution, a fast one, and a tiny one are three different answers - and the campaign grades all three.

"Before Hard Chip, I did not really understand how transistors worked. With Hard Chip, I understood what they are for, and how you can make calculations with a single idea: let current pass, or do not let it pass." - Arnaud, an early access player

/03

// compete on the speed

GAUNTLET · #5 · TO COME
4-BIT ADDER
Build the fastest correct 4-bit adder. Inputs A[4bit] and B[4bit], output S[4bit] C[1bit]. Winner is minimum weighted sum of ticks, volume, complexity and transistors.
CONSTRAINT
TRUTH TABLE
TOP TIME
530 ticks
SUBMISSIONS
232
YOUR RANK
#56
VIEW RANKINGS →
RK
PLAYER
TICKS
TRNST
1
kirin_v
1,206 ps
42
2
propagate
1,214 ps
44
3
silicon_saint
1,221 ps
41
4
halfcarry
1,230 ps
43
5
drtransistor
1,244 ps
48
6
meander
1,258 ps
46
7
opcode
1,263 ps
50
…
you
1,589 ps
52
/05

// come build with us

COMMUNITY · WELCOME

Hard Chip started on itch.io as one person's attempt to answer a simple question: what does a CPU actually feel like to build?

The people who kept showing up were students, hobbyists, hardware engineers, ex-EE professors, and curious strangers. They help each other, help writing the wiki, help translating it into 8 languages (currently).

If you're staring down a digital logic course, or you've always wanted to know what an adder is really doing, or you just like making elegant things out of simple parts - there's a seat for you here.

- Elorth SOLO DEV · HARD CHIP
// REAL-TIME
Discord
devlogs, help, circuit reviews
400+
// LONG-FORM
r/hardchip
showcases, breakdowns, memes
56 posts
// REFERENCE
Wiki.gg
every gate, spec, & chapter guide
24 articles
// VIDEO
YouTube
devlogs & circuit teardowns
13 eps
// CONTRIBUTE
Localization
8 languages & counting
Open PR
// SMALL UPDATES
Bluesky
@elorth · #hardchipgame
Follow

// GO BUILD A CPU

Hard Chip is in active development. Play the early access now and help the algorithm notice a small, strange, very sincere game about silicon.

▶ PLAY ON STEAM → JOIN THE DISCORD →
// TWEAKS
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