PipeConnect (PuzzleMadness)

About PipeConnect (PuzzleMadness)

A PipeConnect grid starts with a few coloured bulbs, each with a stub of pipe pointing out of it, and sometimes a pipe piece already fixed in place. Above and below the grid is a tray of pieces (straights, bends, T-junctions and crossings) with a number over each showing how many of that piece you have. You place the pieces in empty cells so that every bulb of the same colour ends up connected, while bulbs of different colours stay apart. Every piece in the tray has to be used.

The counted pieces are what make it a logic puzzle rather than a free drawing exercise: once the bends run short, the remaining routes have to be straight, and a single crossing piece decides where two colours can pass each other. Today's Medium board, for example, is a 6x6 grid with three red and three blue bulbs. An eraser tool clears a cell if you change your mind.

PuzzleMadness is a free puzzle website run by Dewi, a software developer who started out making games for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii and DS and now builds the site as a hobby. It carries dozens of puzzle types, from classic sudoku to newer logic grids, and each one gets its own dated puzzle every day at each difficulty. PipeConnect comes in Easy, Medium, Hard and Tough versions plus a Mixed page, and the same day's PipeConnect puzzle is shared by everyone who opens it.

The site checks your grid as you go and tells you when it is finished; it does not publish solutions. Each completed puzzle earns a score, and scores feed a monthly and an all-time PipeConnect leaderboard, where only your best attempt at a puzzle counts. Older days stay in the archive, so a missed puzzle can still be played later and still counts toward the current month. Playing needs no account; a free registration gives you a username on the leaderboards and a cloud save. The pages carry adverts.

How to play PipeConnect (PuzzleMadness)

1. Open today's PipeConnect page on PuzzleMadness and choose a difficulty from the menu above the grid.
2. Pick a piece from the tray above or below the grid; the number over each piece shows how many are left.
3. Click an empty cell to lay the piece there, and use the eraser to clear a cell.
4. Connect every bulb to the others of its colour without joining two colours, using up all the pieces.
5. The site tells you when the grid is complete and adds your score; registered players appear on the leaderboards.

Screenshots

Tips

• Look at the counts first: pieces you have none of narrow the routes straight away.
• Bulbs pointing at the edge or at each other often have only one way out, so start there.
• A crossing piece is the only way two colours can pass; work out early where it must go.
• Missed a day? Earlier puzzles are in the archive, and finishing one still counts toward this month's leaderboard.

Questions