How to Play Pipes
Pipes is a rotation puzzle: the pieces are right, the angles are wrong.
The rules
- Each square holds a pipe piece with openings on one to four sides. Click a piece to turn it a quarter clockwise.
- Water comes from the source in the middle. Pieces connected to it light up blue.
- The puzzle is solved when every piece is lit and no opening faces a wall or a blank side of a neighbour.
The intended network has no loops, and edge pieces never point outward.
Playing on kawu
- Keyboard: arrows move, Enter or Space turns.
- Hint turns one piece into place, near the lit network. Undo turns it back.
- Sizes 5×5, 7×7 and 9×9; the daily puzzle is the same for everyone.
Next, read the Pipes techniques. Like it? Try Light Up or Bridges.
Frequently asked questions
Can there be loops?
No. The solved network is a tree: every piece connects to the source by exactly one route. If your layout has a loop, something is wrong elsewhere.
What if a piece is already right?
Leave it. Every piece needs a particular orientation, and pieces along the edge are the easiest to settle first because they can't point outward.
Last updated 2026-10-20