Mac user yearning for Windows 3.1 games

June 30, 2010 2:57 PM

How can I play the classic Windows games in the Best of Microsoft Entertainment Pack (JezzBall, Chip's Challenge, SkiFree, PipeDream) on a Mac?

I found a download link on this website for the entertainment pack itself, but I have no idea what I can do to get this up and running. Is there a such thing as a Windows emulator that will run these?

I've searched for play-online versions of some of these games, and some of them are mediocre-to-passable, but what I really want is Chip's Challenge. I haven't been able to find anything comparable.

So, Metafilter, help me play these games I so adored!

Pertinent info: MacBook, running OS X 10.6.4

posted by rachaelfaith to computers & internet (7 answers total)

you could run virtual box if you have a copy of windows you can get access to.
posted by nadawi at 3:04 PM on June 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Those games should have no problem running with WineBottler.
posted by zsazsa at 3:06 PM on June 30, 2010

Sure. Go get a copy of Parallels or Fusion & Windows.

FYI, Fusion 3 is about $63 and a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium is $180. Parallels is about the same price as Fusion.
posted by GuyZero at 3:06 PM on June 30, 2010

I can't speak directly to how you would get that specific software running. However using something like Wine Bottler, you should be able to create a standalone OSX application that contains both the original game exe, as well as the wine windows emulator.
posted by axismundi at 3:07 PM on June 30, 2010

You could try Crossover Mac. It is a Wine implementation that allows you to run Windows apps w/o having to use a virtual machine app like Virtual Box, vmWare, or Parallels and more importantly no need to have a Microsoft Windows license. It does cost money (but there's trial you can see if it works for free before putting any cash on the line).

According to their database, Chips Challenge runs just fine with it.

There's also free versions of Wine which could also work. Crossover's value add is the large user base and people who have tested so many apps.
posted by birdherder at 3:12 PM on June 30, 2010

Downloading WineBottler right now. Have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm excited.
posted by rachaelfaith at 3:13 PM on June 30, 2010

Oh my goodness. I don't know how I did it, but I installed the CrossOver trial and now I'm playing Chip's Challenge. Next, trying to get the music to work. Thanks, all! I can't really spare the cash to buy the full version, but I'm going to experiment with some of the other ideas in the meantime.

But for now, I CAN PLAY CHIP'S CHALLENGE and that's all that matters!
posted by rachaelfaith at 4:02 PM on June 30, 2010