Poker cash games and tournaments use chips to mean specific amounts. In a cash game, differing colours represent actual cash values. Poker chips are much easier to play with than actual cash.
You can move them around a table easily, unlike cash. They are perfect for exchanging when making change quickly. In a tournament, chips don’t represent the actual cash amount that a player uses to buy in a tournament.
Instead, these are used for starting stacks. As a tournament progresses, blind levels escalate. Players must then play higher chip values. Poker chips offer an easy way to signify and play these escalating values.
The goal is to keep collecting those chips and see your own stack rise.