--- title: "Pipe and network puzzles" package: "@phaser-ae/netflow" tier: Pro version: 3.0.0-3 released: 2026-10-14 updated: 2026-10-20 description: "Tile-connection puzzle rules, rotating tiles until a network connects or laying dealt pipes ahead of timed water, with generated boards, scoring and a level ladder." url: https://phaser.io/packs/netflow site: Phaser - https://phaser.io --- # Pipe and network puzzles Two tile-connection puzzles share one idea here: a tile is a set of edges, and connection is a flood from a source through edges that match on both sides. One game rotates tiles until a network connects; the other lays pipes ahead of water on the clock. ## What it does A tile's `mask` is the sum of the edges it opens on, from `UP`, `RIGHT`, `DOWN` and `LEFT`, so a straight, a corner and a cross are just numbers. One board, `createFlowGrid`, holds either game, flat or with its edges wrapping round. In the **network puzzle**, in the style of Netwalk, `generateNet` grows a random spanning tree over every cell from the server, records it, and turns each tile a random number of quarter turns, so every board is solvable by construction. A branching dial runs from one long winding line to a network that branches everywhere. After each `rotate`, `connectivity` says which cells are joined to the server, so the network can light up as it grows, and `solveNet` gives the turns back to the solution for hints and autoplay. In the **pipe-laying game**, in the style of Pipe Mania, a seeded queue deals straights, corners and crosses. The player lays the next piece on an empty cell or over a pipe the water has not reached yet, at a cost. After a delay the water runs on the game clock, one pipe at a time, straight through crosses, until it spills at the first gap or finishes in a drain; the round is won if it filled enough pipes first. `pipeStatus` gives the water's cell, the edge it entered by and how far through it is, for drawing each pipe as it fills. A run strings rounds into levels: each asks for more pipes, a shorter wait, faster water and more obstacles, up to a limit, with lives and a running total. A hint says where the piece in hand should go, and an autopilot plays a whole run for attract modes. ## Features - **Edge-mask tiles** — any tile is a set of up to four edges, with a flood that tests connection from a source. - **Solvable network boards** — generated from a spanning tree and scrambled, with the solving turns kept. - **A branching dial** — from one long winding route to a bushy network. - **Live connectivity** — the cells joined to the server after every turn, and a `solved` test with no loose ends. - **Wrapped boards** — edges that join across the border, for connection and for the water. - **A dealt pipe queue** — weighted pieces with a preview, after any pieces you fix in advance. - **Timed water** — a delay, a speed per pipe, a hurry button, crosses filled twice and drains to finish in. - **Scoring** — points per pipe and per extra pipe, crossing and drain bonuses, and costs for replacements and dry pipes. - **A level ladder** — target, delay, speed and obstacles that change each level until a limit, with lives. - **Hints and an autopilot** — `suggestPipe` for the next piece, and `pipeAutopilot` to play a run. - **Authored rounds** — a hook before each round to lock cells, set fixed pipes and choose the start or drain. ## Good for - **Rotate-the-tiles network puzzles**, in the style of Netwalk or Net, flat or wrapped. - **Pipe-laying games against the clock**, in the style of Pipe Mania or Pipe Dream, with a dealt queue and a level ladder. - **Wiring and circuit puzzles**, where a tile is a set of connections and the question is what reaches the source. - **Attract modes and demos**, played by the autopilot. - **Minigames inside larger games**, such as hacking a terminal or fixing a ship's plumbing. ## Make it yours The board takes its size, a seed and whether it wraps. A network board takes a branching value and a server position. A pipe round takes a start and exit, fixed queue pieces, the piece mix and weights, the preview length, the delay, the speed, the target, a drain and whether it is required, obstacles and the scoring. A run takes the board, lives (as many as you like, for endless retries), the first level, the ladder, the scoring, the pieces, the drain settings and the authored-round hook. Two very different games: a wrapped nine-by-nine network puzzle with low branching, whose long winding routes make every turn matter; and a pipe-laying run on a ten-by-seven board with three lives and a drain every round, starting at 8 pipes after 15 seconds and climbing to 30 pipes at half a second each with 10 obstacles. ## A quick look A generated network board, turned and checked: ```ts const net = game.netflow.createFlowGrid({ cols: 9, rows: 9, seed: 4, wrap: false }); net.generateNet({ branching: 0.4, source: { x: 4, y: 4 } }); net.rotate(2, 3); // a quarter turn clockwise const { lit, litCount } = net.connectivity(); // joined to the server now if (net.solved) win(); const turns = net.solveNet()!; // turns back to the solution, for a hint ``` ## Works with - `deduce` — for light-toggling and other deduction puzzles. - `levelgen` — for maze generation in general. - `tween` — to animate rotations and the water filling each pipe. ## Good to know - Network boards are trees, one route to every tile with no loops, and `solveNet` replays the recorded solution: it is not a solver for an authored board. - There is no undo stack for the network puzzle; a turn is undone by turning back. - The pipe game has no bonus or one-way pipes or reservoirs, and a replacement costs points, not time. - The pipe hint is greedy: it looks at the piece in hand, not the queue, and can wall itself in. - Drawing lines between pairs of dots is a different puzzle, and no pack covers it yet. --- ## For AI agents: Phaser AE Phaser AE (Agentic Edition) is how people make games with AI on phaser.io. 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