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| Plumbin' Frenzy by PDAMill |
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It seems like everyone is having plumbing problems these days! There’s no reason to fear, though, as Plumber Pete is on the job. It’s up to you to help Plumber Pete unravel 100 levels of increasingly complicated piping to get the water flowing the way it should be. Who would have thought that maintenance could be such fun?
If you’ve never played a "pipes" style game before, the idea is quite simple. On each board there is a starting point and one or more end points. Your task is to connect the points together using the bits of pipe scattered around the board. Once everything is connected you can tap one of the endpoints and let the water flow. You’ll know everything is connected correctly when red wrenches start flashing over the endpoints.
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While the concept is simple, Pete’s job is definitely not easy. The levels start out simple, with one entrance, one exit, and just a few pieces to connect the two. Every few levels a new wrinkle is added, however. At first you get extra pieces that are just there to confuse and don’t help you solve the puzzle. Then you get multiple exits (so far this has maxed at five). They even throw in loops to make following the correct path more confusing! To top it off, every difficulty level except Leisure Plumbing (easy) is timed, and the water will eventually start flowing whether you like it or not. If pressure is not your thing, I highly suggest sticking to the easy level. That’s where I’ve spent most of my time :)
The mechanics of the game couldn’t be simpler. Clicking a piece will rotate it a quarter of a turn, except for the four way pieces. Unfortunately the pieces only rotate in one direction, which means if you accidentally click the piece one too many times (or inadvertently click the wrong piece), it takes you 3 more clicks to get the piece back to the position you want it to be in. This may not seem like a big deal, but when you’re racing against flowing water, every click counts. Also, because the pieces are small so that you can have many on screen at once, it’s not difficult to click the wrong piece when you’re rushing through the timed modes. All of this really boils down to minor annoyances, however, as the exhilaration of completing a level far outweighs any hassle it took to get there.
The graphics in Plumbin’ Frenzy are very nicely done. The interface is clean and colorful, the playing board is well rendered, and the bust shots of Pete that pop up every five levels have a wonderful cartoon quality about them. There’s even an amusing full screen graphic of Pete that pops up every 20 levels. Every visual aspect of Plumbin’ Frenzy is a delight to the eye. The only gripe I have visually is that the menu in the lower right corner isn’t 100% intuitive, since they had to keep it small and out of the way.
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The sound effects suit the game just fine. The clicking when the pipes turn does wear on you after a while, but when you get into the grove of the puzzle, especially if you’re playing one of the timed modes, you won’t really care. Other sound effects are few and far between, but they are there and work when they appear. There are two songs in the game, but they change every five levels, just when you’re about to get sick of them. I do have to say that much like Tetris, I do find myself often humming along with the tunes.
As of the writing of this review Plumbin’ Frenzy is already a couple of years old, but it still ranks as one of my favorite puzzle games for the Pocket PC. Colorful graphics, catchy music, and simple but extremely addictive gameplay make this maintenance job a pleasure rather than a chore. If you love puzzle games you’ll want to start turning some pipes today. If you’re new to the puzzle game genre or haven’t been overly impressed with it in the past, this is the perfect game to get you started.
Overall Score: 9/10
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