Dripline

About Dripline

Dripline is one of three small daily puzzles from puzlo, beside Pinplot and Inkflood. The board is a square grid of pipe pieces: straights, bends, T-pieces and dead ends, with a water drop marking the source in the middle. Some pieces start turned the wrong way, and the job is to find them and turn them so that the whole board becomes one connected network.

Tapping a piece turns it a quarter turn clockwise. Water flows at once through every piece joined to the source, so the blue part of the board shows how far your network reaches. The puzzle is solved when every piece is connected and no pipe end is left open, not even against the edge of the board.

Scoring is by moves rather than time. Each piece you adjust counts as one move however many times you tap it in a row, but coming back to it later counts again. Par is the number of pieces that needed turning in the maker's solution; finishing in par or fewer earns three stars, and since some boards can be joined more than one way, beating par earns a trophy.

A new numbered board unlocks at midnight in your time zone, and everyone gets the same one. Monday starts at 4x4 and the boards grow through the week to 6x6 on Saturday and Sunday. Beyond the daily there are unlimited practice boards in four sizes with hints, and an archive of missed days. It is free in any browser with no account, carries ads, and keeps your streak and statistics in your browser.

How to play Dripline

1. Open Dripline on puzlo.fun; today's numbered board loads with its size and par.
2. Tap a pipe piece to turn it a quarter turn clockwise; water fills every piece joined to the source.
3. Turn pieces until every one is part of the single network from the water drop.
4. Leave no open pipe end anywhere, including at the edge of the board.
5. Finish in par or fewer moves for three stars; play missed days from the archive.

Screenshots

Tips

• Start at the corners: a corner piece can only point inwards, so it often has just one position that works.
• A straight piece on the edge must run along the edge, never off it.
• Two dead-end pieces may never face each other, since that closed pair could not reach the water.
• Decide where a piece must point before touching it, because returning to a piece later costs another move.

Questions