C.H.I.M.P.S.

"The true test of a BTD master. No Continues, Hearts Lost, Income, Monkey Knowledge, Powers or Selling."

- Pop-up description

C.H.I.M.P.S. (most often referred to as "CHIMPS" or "CHIMPS Mode") is a game mode that was first introduced in Bloons TD 6. The abbreviation stands for "No Continues, no Hearts Lost, no Income, no Monkey Knowledge, no Powers, and no Selling", being "the true test of a BTD master". It is unlocked after beating Impoppable on the respective map.

It is possible to get different coloured CHIMPS medals, (see Gallery). The Red Medal is unlocked if CHIMPS is beaten but the player has exited to home at least once. The Black Medal is unlocked if CHIMPS is beaten and the player has not exited to home during the whole game. When all other medals are completed, a Red Medal will unlock a Gold Border while a Black Medal will unlock a Black Border.

Rules
Despite appearing as a subsection of the Impoppable difficulty, standard CHIMPS uses the same prices as Hard Difficulty. Similar to Impoppable however, the game starts on Round 6 as opposed to Round 3, and completing CHIMPS rewards the same amount of Monkey Money as completing Impoppable, which must be completed before attempting CHIMPS.

Each letter in CHIMPS stands for a certain rule. The player is not allowed to:


 * Continue: Continue the challenge after they lose, meaning that they are not allowed to spend Monkey Money in order to restart back to the round they had died on. Once the player loses, they can only restart the challenge over from Round 6.
 * Lose Hearts: Lose any lives; like Impoppable, players are given only one life, and no extra lives can be gained either.
 * Gain Income: Gain money other than through popping Bloons, or by getting money at the end of rounds. Players should avoid buying any money generating towers because they will provide no cash. Banana Farms are disabled by default (though they can be included on certain Challenges, however). No extra money is received through any other means. However:
 * Before the 1.5 update, Monkey Town was able to give extra cash per bloon pop.
 * Before the 1.7 update, the mode did not give extra cash at the end of each round.
 * Before the 3.0 update, Druid's Jungle's Bounty Ability gave $200 every time it was activated.
 * Before the 4.0 update, the Sun Temple with Support sacrifices was able to produce cash.
 * Currently, Obyn Greenfoot's Wall of Trees ability can give cash if bloons are captured, however it does not grant any extra cash other than what the bloon originally had. Specifically, it gives $0 per Bloon entering the tree and $1 per RBE value on each banana (with cash limiters included as always with Wall of Trees), thereby equaling the same amount of money as if all popped without Wall of Trees.
 * Any other trap-based towers, such as Bloon Trap or XXXL Trap, will, when collected, reward only the amount of in-game cash as if the bloons were popped by conventional means during the round.
 * Likewise, hooking in MOAB-Class Bloons with Monkey Pirates or Pirate Lord will only provide the amount of cash as if the blimps were popped in their entirety conventionally.
 * Use Monkey Knowledge: Gain bonuses through Monkey Knowledge Points and skill tree.
 * Use Powers. This includes Insta-Monkeys.
 * Sell their towers: towers are placed permanently and cannot be sold directly.
 * They can still be repositioned via the Support Chinook's Reposition ability.
 * Most sub-towers such as Engineer Monkey's Sentries and Obyn Greenfoot's Nature's Ward Totem cannot be sold either. An exception is made for Sentry Champion's sentries since its upgrade effects involve selling (but strangely did not work between Version 21.0 and 22.0).
 * Currently, Adora's Blood Sacrifice and the Sun Temple are the only towers capable of removing towers from the map entirely while still providing a benefit.
 * Although selling is normally disabled, any effect that automatically sells towers (such as the secret in Flooded Valley, or using Support Chinook to move an Arctic Wind that the helipad is on) will still function. However, CHIMPS sets sell prices to $0, effectively wasting cash if attempting to do use any of these tricks.
 * If a challenge is set to CHIMPS in the Challenge Editor and has the selling toggle enabled, the player can still manually sell towers (although for $0).
 * Even though not mentioned in the description, Double Cash and Hero Booster are both disabled.

On Co-Op Mode, similar rules apply as above, with some differences that are not existent in normal CHIMPS Mode:
 * All players start with less money than $650
 * $550 in 2-player mode. (total: $1100)
 * $500 in 3-player mode. (total: $1500)
 * $450 in 4-player mode. (total: $1800)
 * Each of the players are still able to communicate via the use of income requests/transfers.
 * The cash from players that have disconnected will re-distribute to the remaining player(s) (as of Version 12.0).
 * Each player may have their own Hero and set of Tier 5 towers.
 * Occasionally, the game may automatically refresh as a result of recalibration of the servers (purpose of the regular game refreshing is to fix any potential server-related connection issues). This used to result in losing any temporary towers or placed road items (e.g. Nature's Ward Totem, Obyn's Brambles, Perma-Spike stockpiled spike piles, Sun Temple's mini Sun Avatars, etc.). Ninja Kiwi has been fixing as many of these bugs as possible.

Rewards
Beating any CHIMPS map will reward the same amount of Monkey Money as beating Impoppable would give. However, this amount cannot be increased even if Mo' Monkey Money is unlocked in the Monkey Knowledge (because Monkey Knowledge is disabled during this mode). Winning first time will also reward a small skull-shaped medal beside the Impoppable Medal. The skull can be red or black depending on whether CHIMPS is completed with or without loading the player's save game, with the black medal given if the player completed the map without loading a save.

Earning all medals for a specific map will permanently change color of the map's border.

In Co-Op Mode, players will always get the black medal if the team wins, but if the map the player has beaten on Co-Op CHIMPS hasn't been beaten in single player CHIMPS, the profile will show a red medal. The 'Create Game' section will still show a black medal, though. In other words, the black Co-Op CHIMPS medal will appear to be "downgraded" on your profile to a red medal until you beat single player CHIMPS on that map.

Special Borders
When all Medals are earned for a specific map, including the Half Cash badge from the opposite Hard Mode branch, the boundaries for the map will change color permanently. If all medals are earned on a single map, the player is given a golden border around the map display border. Completing CHIMPS with the black medal will turn this border to a lustrous black color.

Specific Map Challenges
Only Expert Maps tend to become the center of attention when it comes to beating on CHIMPS Mode, with the exceptions of Dark Castle, Infernal, Workshop, and sometimes Flooded Valley, since even harder Advanced Maps such as High Finance, Peninsula, and Pat's Pond are relatively easy compared to the set of maps sometimes known as "True Experts" in the game.

The "True Expert" maps are usually considered as including #Ouch, Quad, Bloody Puddles, and Ravine. Some former True Expert tracks that have fallen out of this range over updates includes Muddy Puddles and Geared. For the purposes of this article, all Expert Maps plus Geared will be mentioned.


 * #Ouch
 * #Ouch CHIMPS (often called "#couch") used to be unsolved after the version 6.0 Alchemist nerfs. However, it was solved officially on the official subreddit on version 7.0 using the Comanche Commander exploit. Link.
 * #Ouch CHIMPS was re-solved in version 8.1. Link. It has been since solved on every version since. 9.0 Link, 10.1 Link, 11.0 Link. Despite being completed in every version since, Black Border #Ouch wasn't solved since the Alchemist nerfs until version 11.0. Link.
 * Quad
 * In version 8.0, using the Level 9+ Striker Jones exploit, an exploit that allowed Top Path 1 Mortar Monkeys to stun MOAB-class and Druid of the Jungle to instakill MOAB-class layers, Quad CHIMPS (also known as "Qimps", "Quimps", or "Cuad") was solved on 6th February 2019. Link.
 * It was officially resolved on version 10.1 using The Biggest One. Link. After The Biggest One nerf, Quad CHIMPS was resolved on Version 11.0 with Grandmaster Ninja and even Black Bordered with no glitches. Gold Border Link, Black Border Link. It has since been made easier in version 18.0 thanks to the use of Admiral Brickell and Ballistic Missile spam. Link.


 * Muddy Puddles
 * Amidst the possibility discussions about the Version 9.0 Muddy Puddles CHIMPS (also known as Cuddles) pathing changes, Youtuber "ISAB" first attempted to beat Muddy Puddle CHIMPS early March 2019. Later, he started streaming at March 17th ~7:00am NZT (Link), streaming for more than 12 hours, alongside one hour's break in between 2:20pm to 3:30pm (despite his promise, he actually went for 1 hour, 10 minutes dinner break). In March 17th 2019 6:41pm NZT, ISAB finished Muddy Puddles CHIMPS. Link.
 * He initially was able to beat Muddy Puddle CHIMPS to r25 as of March 11, 2019.
 * ISAB went to between Round 89-92 on Muddy Puddles CHIMPS on 17th March 2019 2:15pm NZT. There were up to ~1000 viewers watching during his gaming stream. However, he has yet to beat Round 89-92 fully without losing Wall of Trees non-profitable cash or losing to future rounds (especially Rounds 95, 98, 99, and 100).
 * Similarly, ISAB had been beating Rounds 95-99 with high precision, starting on 4:58pm NZT. Link.
 * Ever since, Muddy Puddle CHIMPS has been solved on every update, including with Black Border, starting from Version 10.0 with the Quincy base price buff. With Version 11.0, Muddy Puddles CHIMPS is even easier due to further Quincy buffs. 10.1 Link, 11.0 Link.
 * Numerous variations of beating Muddy Puddles CHIMPS with Etienne and a selection of various Tier 5 towers and/or any obscure Tier 3-4 towers have been completed many times, with various strategies posted on Reddit.


 * Workshop
 * Jajajosh completed Workshop CHIMPS upon its release on September 18, 2019 in the Challenge Editor. Link. It was later completed with a Black Border by fenixkillah on September 24, 2019. Link.
 * Workshop CHIMPS has a few different solutions, pioneered by Demonic Sin Ex, as shown in this video.


 * Bloody Puddles
 * Originally, Bloody Puddles CHIMPS was impossible past round 9 under normal circumstances due to the lack of money to deal with the Green Bloons on the outer lanes unless set at bloon speed of 99% or starting with 2 lives. Version 14.0 fixed the hitbox of the line of sight-blocking van, making the map possible to be completed on CHIMPS. Jajajosh completed Bloody Puddles CHIMPS on December 16, 2019.Link.
 * On 16 March 2020, Reddit user Dennis573 posted a screenshot of his Bloody Puddles completion with Gwendolin, Perma Charge and Sub Commander. This was notable as it is now considered the other viable strategy. Link.
 * Other players have adapted this Sub Commander or "two-sided" strategy to use other towers and expand the variety of strategies on this map.
 * On 21 May 2020, Bloody Puddles CHIMPS was completed without exiting for a save and was black bordered by Reddit user u/YouFoundKnowledge, known as "minuscule" on Discord. Link.
 * However, this run involved the use of an arguably gamebreaking bug with Unstable Concoction, due to non-bugged runs losing black border to either Round 63 or 75.
 * Despite this, the bug mostly affected lategame starting 75.
 * This marked the first 100% map completion since the addition of Bloody Puddles.
 * Jajajosh later completed Bloody Puddles CHIMPS again with a black border without the Unstable Concoction bug. Link.
 * Some known early Bloody Puddles CHIMPS completions were by minuscule, (YouFoundKnowledge) Jajajosh, exephur, Shwax and legendary mop.
 * The easiest Black Border strat that is still possible as of version 27.0 centers around MOAB Maulers and Striker Jones.


 * Infernal
 * Infernal CHIMPS was completed rather quickly since initial release, by a Reddit user named u/Nekokan as shown here.
 * Formerly, the only Hero that could beat Infernal was Quincy due to the only found start requiring Quincy and a 000 Dart Monkey.
 * Ninja Kiwi changed the map in 20.0 to allow for more variety in strategies and Infernal has since been completed by other heroes, especially with Etienne.


 * Geared
 * The first Geared CHIMPS was announced on Reddit on this link. The strategy there involved a combination of The Biggest One, Perma-Spike, and Support Chinook.


 * Flooded Valley
 * Flooded Valley CHIMPS was completed quickly since its initial release by exephur. Link.

TBA
 * Ravine


 * Sanctuary
 * Sanctuary CHIMPS was completed by Exephur on June 4th, 2021. Reddit Link.
 * A placement of Perma-Spike for this map was found so that the spikes can be dropped at where bloons split, making the solution of the map easier. Link.


 * Co-op
 * Due to Co-Op Mode's rules allowing more starting cash, Muddy Puddles CHIMPS was the first of the major three Expert maps to be completed on Co-Op. The players involved were Shwax, frds, exephur and one more unknown player. Link.
 * Co-Op #Ouch CHIMPS was completed on July 29, 2019 by frds and Shwax. Link.
 * Co-Op Quad CHIMPS was completed on August 19, 2019 by fenixkillah. Link.
 * Co-Op Workshop CHIMPS was completed on October 4, 2019 by HikingPotato. Link.
 * There exists some community challenges that allow extra starting cash in singleplayer Challenge Editor runs to simulate Co-op's extra starting cash.
 * Similar to real Bloody Puddles Solo, few people hold non-hacked Co-op Bloody Puddles CHIMPS. Some known completions are by FenixKillah, minuscule, exephur, Shwax, RandyZ524, Infinity and u/darkknighttran.

Miscellaneous challenges
Note: Many parts of this section are outdated/contain inaccurate information.
 * 2 Tower CHIMPS (2TC)

2 Tower CHIMPS is a challenge where a map must be beaten on CHIMPS with only up to two towers.
 * The first 2 tower completion was attempted by Aliensrock50, with the combination of the 5/0/2 Wizard Monkey and Captain Churchill. However, he was not successful.
 * Smurfblade eventually completed this combo on version 10.0.
 * Aliensrock50 returned to beat his previously attempted 2TC with the same setup of towers on December 31st 2020 in version 22.0 and succeeded.
 * As of December 8 2019, multiple tower combinations have completed CHIMPS (Logs) with two towers (total of 35, including now impossible combos) This resulted in a new hidden achievement, 2TC, to be added on version 12.0.
 * These strategies include a 2/5/0 Super Monkey and a 5/0/2 Monkey Sub, a 0/5/2 Wizard Monkey and a 0/2/5 Spike Factory, Obyn Greenfoot and a 2/0/4 Super Monkey, a 5/2/0 Heli Pilot and a 0/5/2 Wizard Monkey, a 5-0-2 Wizard Monkey and a 5/2/0 Heli Pilot and over 20 other (non-impossible) combos)
 * The most recent combo being a 0-5-2 Monkey Sub and a 2-5-0 Monkey Ace by boblovespi. This was his first combo. Rounds 79, 83 and 91 were previously nearly impossible since the 0-4-x sub and 2-5-0 Ace couldn't beat all the Super Ceramics without the Tsar Bomba nuke ability. In Version 15.0, however, Pre-Emptive Strike got a price decrease in that update so it could be afforded after the M.O.A.B.s had been popped, then the First Stike Ability Cooldown decrease made 91 beatable, making this duet combo finally possible.
 * However, the Super Monkey + Monkey Sub And Obyn + Super Monkey/Heli Pilot combos don't work anymore.
 * As of March 6th 2019, 5/0/2 Ninja Monkey and 5-2-0 Alchemist have been used to beat two-tower CHIMPS. The added pierce buffs on the Grandmaster Ninja in Version 9.0 have certainly made this duet combo possible. However it is no longer possible after Caltrops was "reworked" in Version 12.0 and definitely after Grandmaster Ninja was nerfed in Version 13.0.
 * Similarly, 5/0/2 Archmage + 0/2/5 Blooncineration succeeded because of the Blooncineration buff that allowed burning of DDTs regardless of black popping grants.
 * A 5/2/0 Heli-Pilot and a 5/0/2 Alchemist currently holds the record for the hardest 2TC combo in terms of map difficulty, taking advantage of Moon Landing's craters to ease the difficulty of Alchemist's splash damage and Apache Prime's concentrated damage, making it possible to beat round 99, which is almost impossible when attempted on Logs.
 * The same loadout was also used to beat on Logs/Cubism CHIMPS many months later.

Least Tower CHIMPS is a challenge where a map needs to be beaten on CHIMPS with as few towers as possible. All Beginner Maps have already been completed with two towers or less, and many have been completed with only two towers. Several Intermediate Maps have been completed with only two towers.
 * Least Tower CHIMPS (LTC)

Least Cost CHIMPS is a challenge where a map needs to be beaten on CHIMPS with the least amount of spending possible.
 * Least Cost CHIMPS (LCC)

2 Megapops CHIMPS is a challenge where a map needs to be beaten on CHIMPS where one tower has a damage count of at least 2,000,000. Regrows do not count, and must be deducted, even if Regrow Farms are not intentionally done by the player. Similar to 2TC, this challenge now has its own achivement, although it is not hidden.
 * 2 Megapops CHIMPS (2MPC)

Because of the possible vast extensions of CHIMPS, other challenges will be listed down here with a short summary.
 * Other Challenges
 * Various Challenges with Logs RBS
 * Setting the bloon speed to approximately that of Logs on any map. Usually combined with the 2TC and 2MPC challenges.
 * Earliest Tier 5 CHIMPS
 * Affording a Tier 5 in CHIMPS as soon as possible.
 * Most Tier 3/4 CHIMPS
 * Affording as many of a type of Tier 3 or 4 Tower as possible in CHIMPS.
 * All Pops CHIMPS
 * CHIMPS, but a single tower must get all the pops.
 * Axis of X
 * Variants of Axis of Havoc; all Tier 5 towers (except Banana Farm) of the same tower type must be played before winning Round 100 on CHIMPS, with some exceptions:
 * Axis of Supers: Sun Avatar, Tech Terror, Dark Champion, at minimum
 * Axis of Aces: Spectre instead of Flying Fortress
 * Axis of Dartlings: any Tier 5 Dartling plus all Tier 4+ Dartlings
 * Axis of Spikes: Spiked Mines instead of Super Mines
 * Axis of Engineers: Overclock instead of Ultraboost
 * Axis of Villages: Monkey City instead of Monkeyopolis

Version History
Nerfs and buffs listed here are in terms of causing more difficulty/less difficulty for the player attempting CHIMPS walkthroughs. There are two sections: "General CHIMPS Rules", which lists changes in how CHIMPS Mode works, and "CHIMPS Metas", which lists significant balance changes that have affected metas in normal CHIMPS games.

Overall, the CHIMPS mode has been buffed in favor of the player, which means it is overall more possible on harder maps. Some of the update history will include adjustments to CHIMPS Metas, and some of these balance changes will not appear regardless of tower upgrades due to some of these balance changes being irrelevant at a certain game version number.

General CHIMPS Rules
This lists changes to CHIMPS Rules that may modify the gameplay of CHIMPS Rules.

Note: Prices given are in Medium Difficulty, not Hard Difficulty as it would in CHIMPS Mode, unless clearly specified.

CHIMPS Metas
This section lists important changes that have affected the meta of CHIMPS Mode strategies, with special attention to tower and upgrade balance changes. Any "fixes" or any buffs or nerfs to other towers/heroes that cause very significant influence in improving CHIMPS gameplay (or walkthroughs for CHIMPS metas) are listed here. Only balance changes that create a noticeable difference in CHIMPS gameplay will be mentioned, as they pose a significant importance for beating CHIMPS maps. Some of these balance changes may arguably be subjective from individual to individual, but overall should sum up from the perspectives of both experienced and newer players.

Note: Prices given are in Medium Difficulty, not Hard Difficulty as it would in CHIMPS Mode, unless clearly specified.

Individual Gold Borders

 * See Gold Border

Individual Black Borders

 * See Black Border

Trivia

 * The mode might be based on the common term NAPSFRILLS, which was commonly used in BTD5 that also have similar objectives, being unable to use agents, premiums, speciality buildings, farming, road items, lose lives, or sell a tower.
 * Starting from March 2019, all of the tracks in the game were completed on normal CHIMPS mode. Alongside, all tracks can be Black Bordered (and thus completed on Co-Op) as of August 2019.
 * The hardest maps to clear on CHIMPS has changed as versions went by. At the launch of the game, maps past Underground in difficulty were impossible to beat on CHIMPS. Eventually, #Ouch  was completed on CHIMPS in version 2.0, leaving Muddy Puddles and later Quad to be the hardest to complete. However, with the Grandmaster Ninja strategy being used on version 11.0, it became possible to beat all the maps with a Black Border, although #Ouch became the hardest to beat with a Black Border. Version 12.0 released with Workshop, alongside many tower nerfs making Quad and Muddy Puddles CHIMPS harder to complete, although they are both still possible to Black Border. Version 13.0 then released with Bloody Puddles, a harder version of the regular Muddy Puddles, and has proven to be harder than the other maps until version 14.0 released with a reduced hitbox for the van, making it possible to beat the map. As of version 17.0, all of the maps are possible to be completed on CHIMPS, but Bloody Puddles remains the hardest to be black bordered.
 * Using the Level 9+ Striker Jones exploit, an exploit that allows Upper Path 1 Mortar Monkeys to stun MOAB-class and Druid of the Jungle to instakill MOAB-class layers, Quad CHIMPS has become solved on 6th February 2019 by the BTD6 subreddit. Link. However, it was solvable with a Black Border again under normal means via Grandmaster Ninja on version 11.0.
 * Prior to version 9.0, only up to Round 9 for Muddy Puddles was possible, due to Round 10 not being possible due to the previous lane-alternation system plus the lack of money for reliable Round 10 defense. This was changed since version 9.0 with the Muddy Puddles pathing modification update. On March 17, 2019, ISAB became the first one to beat Muddy Puddles on CHIMPS
 * On Version 17.0, the first Black Border Bloody Puddles was achieved as shown here. Unstable Concoction was used to beat much of Rounds 81+, due to the "unstable" nature of the tower as of such update.
 * Versions 11.0, 12.0, 17.0 to 22.0, and all versions as of 24.0 are currently the only versions that all maps are possible to be Black Bordered without glitches.
 * Versions 9.0, 10.0, and 14.0 up to 16.0 are also the only versions that all maps are possible to be completed on CHIMPS, although not all maps were Black Bordered during those updates.
 * This mode may be considered easier than Half Cash on easier maps due to the amount of money gained is standard, despite its restrictions. Also, it is possible for CHIMPS mode to be near impossible on a particular map, especially on Expert maps. Half Cash is much more beatable on said track because Premiums, Powers, Monkey Knowledge, etc. are allowed to be used.
 * In most easy tracks, it is also easy to win without the need of extra income capabilities, Monkey Knowledge, Powers, premiums (continues, cash injections, etc.), without need to do any selling, or having to lose lives.
 * On the other hand, harder tracks are a lot more difficult to do without any of the forementioned benefits.
 * There are alternative names for Expert maps CHIMPS that were created by the fandom. However, these terms started to fall out of use after the release of Flooded Valley. Nonetheless:
 * Muddy Puddles CHIMPS is often referred to as "Cuddles".
 * #Ouch CHIMPS is often referred to as "#Couch" or "Couch".
 * Quad CHIMPS is often referred to as "Qimps", "Quimps", or "Cuad".
 * Workshop CHIMPS is often referred to as "Wimps" or "Chops".
 * Bloody Puddles CHIMPS is often referred to as "Bloodles" or "Blimps".
 * The only exceptions are Dark Castle and Infernal, which are still often referred to as "Dark Castle CHIMPS" or "DC CHIMPS" and "Infernal CHIMPS" respectively.
 * CHIMPS on Co-Op Mode can be considered somewhat easier than on single-player mode as the players are provided more starting cash and can use multiple heroes. Due to this, Muddy Puddles CHIMPS was quickly completed on the release of Co-Op.
 * Even though the badge for a red Co-Op CHIMPS medal exists in the profile stats, it cannot be obtained under normal circumstances as the player cannot leave a Co-Op game and come back, meaning that the players who complete CHIMPS on Co-Op will always get the black medal. However, if the player did not obtain the black medal on the map in single player, the profile stats will only show the red medal until the black medal is obtained in single player mode.
 * Since Version 2.0, Banana Farms were disabled by default. However, Challenge Editor, first introduced in Version 9.0, allows challenge creators to include Banana Farms in CHIMPS Mode.
 * In-game, the game mode is referred as "C.H.I.M.P.S.".