Reiner Knizia's City of Secrets Pipes (Universal)

[goiMot]

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[Agas]

What is the difference between this one and the pipe roll series?

[MediaMark]

Originally Posted by Agas

What is the difference between this one and the pipe roll series?

Hi Agas, I have not played the PipeRoll games but from the looks of it, Reiner Knizia's Pipes is much more complicated on the scoring side of things, so to get high scores will be much harder. It's not just about flow, but about the type of pieces you place and where... many combinations.

If you want to try it out, PM me for a promo code Agas.

And here are a few more for others to try it out. Please leave impressions!
iTunes PROMO codes:-

NLNMMTL4P4LH
REN4NFE3NJ4Y
9J7NTRNXWAE9
7EFXWHX9PT7E
T43NH7MRNFN6

P.S. @ goiMot - Thanks for posting the original entry! I was away at a show this weekend and have not had time to attend to the forum!

[speed4mee]

All codes are gone with no reply, very bad

[dclose]

Thanks, I took a code earlier. This is a neat take on pipe games, with that typical Knizia twist, both in the scoring and in how you can lay the pipes.

You can score doubles and quadruples by lining up the proper pipes, and there's a big penalty for laying a pipe whose backs don't match. Gives a nice twist to this genre!

Although I like the fact that the game shows where a piece can go, it does take away a bit of the game's strategy, namely the ability to put in a wrong piece and have it count for the plug penalty. Is there any way to turn off this highlighting? If not, you might consider making that an option for a more difficult game.

[LordGek]

Are pieces dealt randomly or are the levels and pieces given completely scripted?

[dclose]

Originally Posted by LordGek

Are pieces dealt randomly or are the levels and pieces given completely scripted?

They are dealt randomly, one at a time. So you have to optimize as you go along, which involves both a bit of planning ahead (leaving a desired spot open in the most desirable way while you wait for that perfect pipe piece to come along) and a bit of luck.

Also, each time I've restarted a level, I haven't been offered the same pieces. I assume that's what you mean by scripted?

[LordGek]

Originally Posted by dclose

They are dealt randomly, one at a time. So you have to optimize as you go along, which involves both a bit of planning ahead (leaving a desired spot open in the most desirable way while you wait for that perfect pipe piece to come along) and a bit of luck.

Ahh, so each level presents you with a scripted initial setup but then deals you random pipes to try and complete the level with?

I'm in! I just sadly assumed since the other City of Secrets deal was a bunch of scripted puzzles this would be the same.

[dclose]

Originally Posted by LordGek

Ahh, so each level presents you with a scripted initial setup but then deals you random pipes to try and complete the level with?

Yeah, there will be a set number of pipes on offer per level, I'm sure, but upon restarting I'm not offered the identical order of pipes each time. That's a nice change, at least.

[LordGek]

RK does it again!

Taking the old as snot meme of Pipe Dreams and making it all his own!

The goal here is NOT to simply make one continuous pipe to go from the start to a designated finish point before the oil/water catches up to you, but to carefully construct a network of pipes that connects your start point to as many of the outer exit pipes as possible. This concept alone would have made a decent game but RK always has to turn it up a notch. In this game the pipes come in two sizes, thick and thin. If you connect to an exit pipe with a thin pipe you'll score whatever is stated on the exit pipe. If you manage to connect to that exit pipe with a thick pipe you'll score 2x the printed value. Finally, if you manage to connect to that pipe not only with a thick pipe but there is a path leading to this exit pipe from the source entirely composed of thick pipe, 4x the printed value. Although I know some felt the auto highlighting of legal moves took some of the fun away, I really enjoyed it as it let me then focus a lot easier on the bigger picture of how I would connect my pipe network together without worrying I may have missed a valid connection somewhere along the line. Each level proceeds until you've filled all of the board's open spaces with pipes. Once in a while you will receive a pipe piece that won't fit anywhere on the board no matter how you rotate it. Since you have to place every piece, this piece must be placed somewhere on the board as a blocker and nets you a big nasty penalty (the value of this penalty varies and I'm not sure if that value is based on the piece being placed or perhaps how many connectors it is blocking by its placement). The game is pretty tough, at least if you want to score more than 1 star, but oh so rewarding when you kick a level's butt!

One interesting aspect is that these exit pipes are omni connectible (a pipe can connect to them thin, thick, or not at all and it is still a legal placement). So while it is the way you connect to these pipes that your score is entirely based on, it ends up being those inner spaces on the board that can be the toughest to find a perfect fit for. You'll get a 300 point bonus is you manage to connect to all of the exit pipes, but I personally have yet to come anywhere close to accomplishing this on any level.

The game has 50 levels divided into two modes. The Classic mode is just as I've described above whereas Golden mode requires you to connect all golden exit pipes to complete a level. Each level's top local score is tracked as well as how many stars you earned on it (a star rating of 0-3 based on your score). You'll need to earn at least 30 stars in the Classic mode (out of a possible 75) to gain access to the Golden mode.

5/5