Pipe Push Paradise review
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Pipe Push Paradise review

Our Review by Campbell Bird on February 18th, 2019
Rating: starstarstarstarstar :: PIPE DREAM
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Pipe Push Paradise is a pure pipe pushing puzzle pleasure.

Developer: Digerati Distribution

Price: $3.99
Version: 1.0
App Reviewed on: iPhone XR

Graphics/Sound Rating: starstarstarstarstar
User Interface Rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar
Gameplay Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Replay Value Rating: starstarstarstarstar

Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar

Pipe Push Paradise is one of the chillest games I’ve played. Sure, it’s a really tough puzzler that can occasionally leave me scratching my head for hours, but none of that feels infuriating because of the game's calming tones and beachy vibes. It also helps that it’s got some really fantastic puzzle design. Like, some of the best, even. Don’t sleep on Pipe Push Paradise. It’s an incredibly relaxing, beautiful, and creative puzzler that you absolutely must play.

Push those pipes

In Pipe Push Paradise, you play as a young woman who is a new arrival to an island in the midst of a plumbing crisis. Apparently, your uncle was the finest plumber in the land, but he’s been asleep for a long time so things are in disarray. Naturally, the islanders turn to you as their next best hope at solving their water issues. And thus, your quest begins.

The pluming to be done on Pipe Push Paradise isn’t your typical fare. Instead of snaking drains or fixing leaky faucets, you have to push large pipe sections around levels and fit them together to complete water lines. Pipes aren’t always in the best layout, so you have to maneuver them through tight levels, solving Sokoban-like challenges all along the way.

Push it to the limit

Although every level in Push Pipe Paradise is just about connecting pipes, you’re almost never doing it the same way twice. This is made possible through a few simple added mechanics that really give depth to the game. Pipes that are bent can be rolled to have parts of them sticking straight upward, there are buttons that can rotate pipes, and there are even ways to prop pipes up on higher ground to have them reach hard-to-reach places. All of these components slowly get added to Pipe Push Paradise to create an island full of brilliant and unique challenges.

By mixing and matching these mechanics together, Pipe Push Paradise puts together 50 bespoke puzzles that will put your pipe pushing skills to the test. This may not sound like a lot of puzzles, but each level in the game can take quite a bit of time to figure out. Pipe Push Paradise is a seriously hard game, to the point that it’s not uncommon to start levels over dozens of times or spend upwards of an hour just puzzling out a single level.

Flip up, not out

Pipe Push Paradise offers up a challenge that isn’t to be taken lightly, but it’s a game that also manages to never feel daunting or frustrating. This is for two main reasons: 1) Pipe Push Paradise is relentlessly logical in both its design and challenge and 2) everything about the look and feel of this game makes you feel like you’re on a chilled out tropical vacation.

There are ways you can really mess up in Pipe Push Paradise, but it’s super easy to see why and how you got into that situation. You can also easily back out of your messes through either trying out another level (you can hop around between unlocked stages at will) or using the in-game undo button that operates exactly as you’d want it to—granularly, instantly, and without punishment. Pair this with Pipe Push Paradise’s soothing bossa nova soundtrack and saturated color palette, and you have very little to complain about. Everything feels breezy and fun, despite the formidable challenge.

The bottom line

Pipe Push Paradise is a tough puzzle game that gives you the freedom to make mistakes and try things out. You can easily shove a pipe into an unreachable space but just as easily undo that move and proceed forward. Similarly, you can bang your head against a single level for hours, or bounce between the dozen or so you have access to at any given time. All the while, Pipe Push Paradise is serving up brilliant puzzles set against a beautiful backdrop of pure zen. In this way, it's almost a perfect mobile game--you play the game on your own terms, but you'll always be met with a beautiful challenge.

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