Pipe puzzle online

How to play

1. Press Start. Each puzzle is a new grid of tiles.
2. Tap a tile to turn it a quarter clockwise.
3. Every pipe must meet a pipe on the next tile. Linked pipes turn dark.
4. Each puzzle has a time limit. When time runs out you lose a life.

A pipe puzzle online, solved by turning tiles

This pipe puzzle will run in the browser and inside Telegram, with nothing to install. The board is a grid of tiles, and each tile holds a piece of pipe. There are four kinds of piece, an end with one opening, a straight, a corner and a three-way. At the start every tile is turned at random. Tap a tile to turn it a quarter clockwise, and keep turning until every pipe meets a pipe on the next tile and the whole network links back to the round source in the middle. Linked pipes turn dark, so you can see how far the network reaches.

Simon Tatham's puzzle collection has a version of this puzzle called Net. Our puzzles are generated for every attempt, and each one has exactly one solution. A solved board has no open ends and no loops.

From level 1 to 15

A level is two or three puzzles in a row. Each puzzle has its own time limit.

The grid grows from 3×3 on level 1 to 7×7 on level 8. A 3×3 grid gets 40 seconds, a 4×4 grid 60 and then 50 seconds, 5×5 gets 90 and then 75, 6×6 gets 120 and then 100. The 7×7 grid has 150 seconds on level 8, 130 on level 9 and 120 on level 10, which has three puzzles. So up to level 10, a grid of the same size gets less time on each new level.

Level 11 goes back to a 4×4 grid, because it brings in a new rule. From here on the board wraps around. A pipe that leaves the right edge comes back on the left, and one that leaves the top comes back at the bottom. That removes the border as a clue, because an edge tile can now connect to the opposite side. Levels 12 to 15 grow the wrapping grid back up, to 5×5 with 90 seconds, 6×6 with 120, and 7×7 with 150 and then 130 seconds.

When the time on a puzzle runs out you lose a life. The game then shows the solution and marks the tiles that were wrong, and if you still have a life and the level has another puzzle, it starts. With three lives gone the level ends and your points are kept.

How the points work

Each solved puzzle earns 10 points plus a speed bonus of up to 10. The bonus falls in steady steps and reaches zero at about half the time limit. On level 1, with 40 seconds per puzzle, a solve in under a second earns the full 10 and a solve in about 20 seconds earns nothing extra. The number of turns does not count, only time. A wrong turn never costs a life, only seconds. The best score for a level is 20 points per puzzle.

Points and your best show how you did in this game. We do not claim that it improves anything outside the game.

What is a good result

We have no norms from players yet and will not invent them. Solving every puzzle of a level before the time runs out is the first goal. The bonus is largest right at the start and runs out at about half the limit, so for a higher score, solve each puzzle before half the time is gone.

Tips

Start at the border on the levels without wrapping. A tile on the edge cannot point outward, and a tile in a corner can point only inward. A straight on the edge has one possible position, along the edge. A corner in a corner has one too.

Fix tiles, then work from them. Each fixed tile tells you whether its neighbours need an opening on that side. Ends are useful, since two ends can never face each other, that would close off a tiny network with nothing else attached.

Remember there are no loops. If turning a tile would close a circle, that turn is wrong.

On wrapping levels there is no border to lean on. Look for tiles whose neighbours leave only one rotation that keeps every opening matched, and rule out the rest.

On a keyboard, the arrows move between tiles, Enter turns a tile clockwise and Shift+Enter turns it the other way.

Similar games

In Maze you trace a route through a network that also has no loops, one step at a time. In Opposites you fill a board with pieces, and every square of a piece has to sit on a square of the other kind.

Questions

Is this pipe puzzle free?

Yes. Levels 1 to 5 will be free in the browser and in Telegram, with nothing to install. The full version opens all levels for a one-time payment, with no subscription.

Can a puzzle have more than one solution?

No. Every puzzle is checked by a solver before it is shown and kept only if one arrangement of tiles solves it.

What does wrapping mean?

On levels 11 to 15 the grid wraps. A pipe that leaves one edge continues on the opposite edge, as if the board were drawn on a doughnut.

What happens when time runs out?

You lose a life, the game shows the solution for a moment with the wrong tiles marked, and the next puzzle starts. If that was your last life or the last puzzle of the level, the level ends.

Is it like the water pipe games in app stores?

Some pipe puzzles have you draw paths between colored dots. Here you only turn tiles, one tap at a time, so it plays the same with touch, a mouse or a keyboard.