PIPEWORKS

Six rooms of pipe by hand, then it generates them for ever.

PIPEWORKS All games

PIPEWORKS

Six rooms of pipe by hand, then it generates them for ever.

The cellar, the waterworks, the boiler, the roof, the foundry and the deep - each with its own room and one new idea: pipes bolted down that cannot be turned, and crossovers that carry water both ways at once. After those six it generates rooms for ever, growing a row or a column every third stage and then tightening the clock.

What is in it: A pipe puzzle. Nothing of concern. More for parents

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Controls

  • Clickturn a pipe
  • Tapturn a pipe (mobile)
Bolted pipes are already correct - build around them. Every second left on the clock is a bonus.

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How to play

PIPEWORKS is a grid of scrambled pipe pieces with an inlet valve on the left edge and an outlet on the right. Click or tap a piece to turn it a quarter turn clockwise. When the pipes form an unbroken run from the inlet to the outlet, the water lets go on its own and flows through the route you built. Once it reaches the outlet, the room is cleared and the next one begins.

The clock is a flood. Water rises from the bottom of the room the whole time you work, and the bar under the room name shows how long you have left; it turns red in the final quarter. If the flood reaches the top before you connect, the run ends.

Clearing a room scores 100 times the stage number, plus 12 points for every second left on the clock. Your score carries from room to room, so a run is as many rooms as you can clear before one beats you.

Tips and strategy

  • Start from both ends. The inlet is always on the left edge and the outlet on the right, so the first piece and the last piece are already pinned down.
  • The planned route is only straights and bends. Three-way pieces and crossovers are always filler. They can sometimes link up, but don't build your plan around them.
  • Bolted pieces are a gift. A piece with four orange bolts cannot be turned, but it is always part of the route and always facing the right way already. Build out from it.
  • Every piece is at most three turns from right. Each was scrambled by between none and three quarter turns. A fourth click just brings it back to where it started.
  • Speed is points. At 12 points a second, an early finish on a big stage can be worth more than the stage itself.
  • Read the bar, not the room size. Each room sets its own clock, plus a little extra for every row, so a bigger room is not automatically a shorter one. The Waterworks is the one to watch: it is bigger than the Cellar but has less time.

What's in it

Six hand-built rooms, each with its own look and one new idea:

  • The Cellar – 5×5, plain pipe and a generous clock for learning the turn.
  • The Waterworks – 6×6, a tighter clock.
  • The Boiler – 6×6, introduces bolted pipes.
  • The Roof – 7×6, introduces crossovers, which carry water both ways and look the same whichever way you turn them.
  • The Foundry – 7×7, bolts and crossovers together.
  • The Deep – 8×7, all of it.

After the Deep, rooms are generated for ever, with names like the Sump, the Cistern and the Aqueduct. They gain a row or a column every few stages, up to 11×9, and slowly add more bolts and crossovers. Further in, once the rooms have reached full size, the clock gets a little shorter with every room, down to a minimum.

Questions

Is every room solvable?

Yes. Each room is built by laying a working route first, then filling the rest with decoys and scrambling every movable piece. There is always an answer.

Do I need to press anything to start the water?

No. The water lets go the moment your route connects. There is nothing to gain by waiting: the bonus is for time left on the clock when the water reaches the outlet.

Does it save my score?

Yes, on this device. The home screen keeps a top-ten table, and a qualifying run asks for three initials.

Can I play it on a phone?

Yes. A tap turns a pipe, the same as a click.

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