How to play Pipe Peeps

What is the goal in Pipe Peeps?

Every board has one water tank, the round blue tile with a drop on it, and a few OvOs sitting at the ends of the pipes. Water runs from the tank through every pair of pipe openings that touch. An OvO that gets water cheers and splashes; one that is still thirsty looks sleepy and shows an empty drop above its head. The level is won when every pipe on the board is full and nothing drips. A pipe end that points at the edge of the board, at a hole or at the closed side of another tile leaks, so a level can look finished and still need a fix. The chip at the top shows how many OvOs have water, how many taps you have used and the tap limit for three stars.

How to play Pipe Peeps, step by step

The first levels teach the rules one at a time. This is how a typical early board goes.

1. 1Step 1: Read the board before you tap. Find the tank and each thirsty OvO, then look at the pipe pieces: straights, corners, T pieces and crosses. The game reminds you of the main rule on level 6: no leaks, every pipe end must meet another pipe.
2. 2Step 2: Tap a tile to turn it 90 degrees clockwise. Water moves through the network as soon as the openings line up, and each OvO it reaches hops and splashes. Coach OvO at the top cheers you on when the flow grows.
3. 3Step 3: Close every leak. When the last OvO has water and no pipe end drips, the level is done. The win card shows your taps and stars, the tokens you earned and buttons for the next level or a replay.

What are the controls on phone and computer?

On a phone or tablet you only tap. One tap turns a tile a quarter turn clockwise, so a corner needs up to three taps to come back round, and a straight pipe looks the same every two taps. Dragging off a tile does not turn it. The tank, crosses and bridges never turn. On a computer you can click, or play with the keyboard: the arrow keys move a focus ring, Enter or Space turns the tile, and U or Z undoes. The dock under the board has Undo, Hint and Restart. Restart is free. Undo turns the last tile back and gives the tap back, and Hint turns one wrong tile into its right place. Both cost OvO Tokens, and a hint counts as one tap. If blue and lilac are hard to tell apart, turn on Shapes in the settings: wet pipes then get a drop mark and watered OvOs a green tick.

What changes in later levels?

Boards start at four by four and grow as you go, up to eight by ten on the hardest levels. New pieces arrive one at a time. From level 8, bolted tiles appear: they have four bolts in the corners, are already in the right position and never turn. From level 25, holes with a pebble and a sprout sit on the board, and no pipe may point into one. From level 40 you meet bridges, where one pipe passes over another and the two streams never mix. Every fifth level is a CHILL breather with a smaller board, and every tenth level is marked HARD with a bigger one. There is also a daily puzzle that is the same for everyone.

Tips to earn 3 stars in Pipe Peeps

Stars depend on taps, not time, so think first and tap second. Start at the edges: a pipe end can never point at the border, which fixes many edge tiles before you touch the middle. Corners of the board are the most limited, so solve them early. Treat bolted tiles as free clues, because the pipes next to them have to line up with their openings. Each OvO sits on a pipe end with a single opening, and that opening has to meet a neighbouring pipe, never the border. Never tap a straight more than once in a row; two taps bring it back where it was. When a board goes wrong, Restart costs nothing and gives back a clean count. Keep an eye on the star number in the top chip so you know how many taps are left for three stars.

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