Pipes
Pipes is a rotation puzzle. Every tile holds a piece of pipe: an end, a straight, a bend or a junction. Turn the tiles so all the pipes join into one network, with no pipe pointing at an empty side or off the board, and no loops. Water flows from the centre tile, so the pipes it reaches light up.
How to play
Every Pipes board here has exactly one solution and can be solved by logic alone. The board grows from 5×5 at Easy to 9×9 at Expert, and the level is set by the hardest technique the board needs.
- Turn tiles in quarter turns; tiles never move.
- Every pipe end must meet a pipe end on the neighbouring tile.
- No pipe points off the board.
- All tiles form one network with no loops.
Playing on this site
- Tap a tile to turn it a quarter turn clockwise.
- Tiles the water reaches from the centre are blue; the puzzle is solved when every tile is connected.
- Hint names the next technique and turns one tile the only way it can go.
- Your puzzle is saved in this browser, so you can come back to it later.
Techniques by level
Every technique the solver knows, from easiest to hardest. A puzzle's level is the hardest one it needs.
Easy
- Meeting neighbours
- Pipes can't point at the border or at a neighbour that is closed on that side. Only one way is left for this tile.
Hard
- One network
- Every other way for this tile would, a few tiles later, close a loop or cut off part of the network.
Questions
Where should I start a Pipes board?
Start at the border and corners: a straight on an edge must run along it, and a tile in a corner can only face inward. Then follow what each settled tile demands of its neighbours.
Will I ever have to guess?
No. Every puzzle has exactly one solution that logic alone reaches, at every level.
Is Pipes free to play here?
Yes. Every level is free, with no account and no sign-in.