PipeRush (99 cents) is a mildly entertaining puzzle game for the iPhone that puts you in control of a town’s vital water supply. The objective is to connect all the pipes to the homes. However, the factory only pumps out a certain type of pipe every few seconds, and those pipes may not necessarily be the ones you would prefer to use. The result is a fast-paced game of trying to figure out which piece of pipe should go where. If you wait too long to figure things out, the factory will explode and it’s game over.
Things start off nice and slow at first, with only one or two pipes on the conveyor belt at one time. You simply pick up the pipe, rotate it to your desired orientation, and place it on the line where you want. However, things start to get a little crazy when you have to hook up pipes that go in multiple directions. You may simply need a straight pipe, but the factory keeps pumping out curved ones. You really have to think about where to place specific pipes.
There are 15 different kinds of pipes that you could get, and you need to be creative when placing them on the map. You may not get a straight pipe for a while, so you’ll have to manage with curved ones and some that will pump the water in three different directions. There are also pipes that cap the water so it stops flowing in a particular direction. Sometimes, special pipes will appear that, when connected, give you power-ups. One power-up allows you to destroy any pipes that you placed incorrectly, and the other will air drop the exact pipe you need. You also receive bonus points when you place the special pipes.
The game is interesting and fun to play, but only for a short while. There really isn’t any lasting value to the game that would keep you coming back for more. More often than not, the game is more frustrating to play than fun. I don’t believe it will take off in the iTunes App Store, and it won’t be staying on my device for much longer.
