Puzzling heaven
This little puzzle game shares more than a passing resemblance to the hit Pipe Dreams, and should prove interesting for fans of this classic. It does provide a bit of variation on the pipe-matching theme of its bigger brother though and helps it stand out from the crowd and to avoid being labelled as just another clone. The goal remains similar to Pipe Dreams, which if you're unaware of the game, requires you to make a continuous pipe from a number of smaller parts, through which a liquid must flow without leaking. However, the twist here is that instead of being awarded points for surviving as long as possible but instead for creating as many loops in your pipes as possible. In a similar fashion to other puzzlers like Tetris, every time you create a loop, it disappears, thus freeing up space and allowing you to continue with slightly less pressure. The whole thing is played against the clock, further piling on the stress but it can be slowed by small or large amounts by simply placing pipes or ideally by creating loops. The game is little more than an exercise in high score chasing but in similar fashion to Columns or Klax, it proves highly addictive stuff which should keep puzzling fans hooked for plenty of time. The visuals are unspectacular but they rarely are in this sort of thing, so this isn't a major issue. Instead, it's the gameplay which is the star here and in this respect, Connex delivers in spades. It's a very simple game to pick up, thanks to an easy to use control system but once you start rolling, it's hard to put down so if you want to say goodbye to your afternoon, then check this out.
