How to play
Connect the start pipe to the finish pipe with sections from your stack, before the liquid leaks out. That is the whole goal. Here is how it works.
The playing field
Every level is a grid of cells, the playing field. Somewhere on it sit two fixed pipes: the start pipe, with the brass valve, where the liquid comes from, and the finish pipe, with the green ring, where it has to go. Each has one open end. Some levels have walls: blocked cells you have to build around. Large levels can be panned with one finger and zoomed with two.
The stack
On the left you see your stack of pipe sections. You can’t choose your next piece: only the highlighted section at the bottom can be placed, and the ones above it show what’s coming next. Drag that section onto an empty cell to place it. There is no way to throw a section away, so plan ahead and find a spot for awkward pieces.
Pipe sections
- Straights run left to right or top to bottom.
- Corners turn the flow a quarter turn.
- Crosses hold two channels that never mix: one straight across, one straight down. The liquid may pass through each channel once.
- Reservoirs are tanks the liquid has to fill before it flows on. They slow the flow and buy you time.
Changed your mind? Drop a new section on a pipe the liquid hasn’t reached yet to replace it. Replacing takes a moment, and the liquid won’t wait for you.
The flowing liquid
When a level starts, a countdown runs. When it reaches zero, liquid starts flowing out of the start pipe and follows your pipes wherever they lead. Reach the finish and you win. If the liquid finds an open end, runs into a wall, enters a section from a side without an opening or reaches the finish from the wrong side, it leaks out and the level is lost. You can then try again.
Finished your route early? A fast forward button appears: tap it to make the liquid race to the finish.
Points
Every section the liquid flows through earns points:
- straight: 10 points
- corner: 15 points
- reservoir: 25 points
- cross: 10 points for the first pass, and 50 more when the liquid comes back through the other channel
Sections you placed but the liquid never reached cost 3 points each at the end, so a tidy pipeline scores better than a sprawling one.
Stars
Your final score earns up to three stars. Each level sets its own thresholds. Winning a level unlocks the next one, and you can always come back to perfect your route and collect the stars you missed.