The Crown Jewels have been stolen from King Arnid by the evil Count Vladimir and scattered and hidden on the island of Ognid with a sceptre inside his castle stronghold. The jewels were responsible for the prosperity of the people and the land of Ix but now everything has deteriorated. A hero is needed to retrieve the jewels and bring back Ix to it's former glory.

The Causes of Chaos is a text adventure where text describes each location and the player types in commands to interact with each location. What is unique about the game is that five other players can play as well. Each player takes it in turns to play a certain amount of turns (1-9) looking to be the first player to have all six jewels. Each player's stamina is random between 90 and 100 with a weaponskill as well which starts at zero. As each player progresses then their weaponskill increases.

With the aim of the game to collect all six jewels then the players have to kill each other when they come in contact with each other. Each player is given a number and when the computer says 'STRIKE NOW' both players press their number. The first to press it attacks the other player and their stamina and weapon skill dictates how much stamina is removed. A player can leave combat but as they leave they can still be attacked. If a player has low stamina then he can 'WAIT' to increase it but loses all his current turns. If the players stamina does reach zero then it is game over for that player.