As its name suggests, PIPETRIS is a cross between Tetris and Pipemania. As in Pipemania, your task is to create a pipe for a liquid to flow through, but whereas in that game the pipe sections can be placed anywhere on screen, in PIPETRIS they fall into a well Tetris-fashion. Unlike Pipemania, they can be rotated.
When the game starts, you'll see the main playfield on the left. At the bottom right of the playfield is the starting point of the liquid, and up the right hand side are eight targets. Each target has an associated score, the higher targets having higher scores. On the right of the screen are the game stats: score, lives remaining, level and high score.
The falling sections are controlled with the joystick. Left and right move the sections, the fire button rotates them. When you have a section in the right place you can make it fall faster by pulling down on the stick.
As soon as a piece lands above the red line, the liquid starts to flow. Points are awarded for every section it passes through. If it reaches one of the targets, the points for that target are added to your score and you progress to the next level. If the path is not complete, you will lose a life and replay the level. Once all your lives are lost, the game ends. Press fire to start a new game.
Ross McNaughton wrote quite a number of ST programs, ranging from puzzles over strategies to shoot-'em-ups, but it was Pipetris that made it to the cover of ST Format.
