History VideoGame / PipeMania

Aside from home computers, the game has also been released in some format or another on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, UsefulNotes/PlayStation, UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable, and UsefulNotes/NintendoDS.

The exact rules of the game vary depending on versions, but a general summation of the game is as follows. The is being presented with a grid, somewhere on which is the opening of a pipe. Liquid will flow from this opening and the player must place pipes on the grid to guide the liquid along them. Depending on the game version, the liquid may begin flowing after a certain amount of time has passed and you're still allowed to lay down pipe while it comes, other times the game gives you a time limit with which to lay down pipe, then sends the liquid down the path you made. You may also be required to guide the liquid along a certain minimum number of pipe segments, to guide it into a drainage tile, or both. Levels may also be pre-designed or randomly generated.

* ExcitedShowTitle: The original box art showed the title as ''Pipe Mania!!''.

* AmericanKirbyIsHardcore: Inverted: as shown in the page image, the original EU cover inexplicably has a charcoal drawing of a screaming face in the background of the colourful, cartoonish character art. The charcoal background isn't present in any other edition of the game, including the original North American cover by Lucasfilm (instead, the pipeline maze fills the entire space).

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pipe_mania_cover_art.jpg]]
''Pipe Mania'' / ''Pipe Dream'' (depending on the version you're playing) is a series of computer games, the first of which was released in 1989 for the Amiga, and then later ported to Windows, Macs, and other computers.

Aside from home computers, the game has also been released in some format or another on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy, UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}}, UsefulNotes/{{Playstation 2}}, UsefulNotes/{{Playstation Portable}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo DS}}.

''Pipe Mania'' / ''Pipe Dream'' is a classic computer game in which the player lays down sections of pipe onto a grid, while/before a slow-flowing liquid flows through the pipe. Don't let it spill out!

Pipe pieces are typically dispensed to you one at a time, and it's your duty to make the best use of them as you lay them down - you're usually penalised for unused pipe pieces, and for removing laid pipes.

This game has spawned a number of imitations, and the exact rules vary between them. Sometimes, the goal is to just send the fluid through a certain number of segments, or, alternatively, connect two fixed segments with an unbroken pipe. Sometimes the liquid flows while you're laying down pipe, and sometimes it starts flowing after you run out of time to lay segments.

* EndlessGame - if you manage to complete level 36, you are forced to repeat it over and over again until you eventually fail.
* PuzzleGame
* PipeMaze - creating something like this is the point of the game.
* SchmuckBait - The last two levels have only two empty spaces between the start and end pieces via a screen wraparound. The minimum distance is well over 20 though, so directly joining the terminators is a guaranteed Game Over.
* ScoringPoints
* TimedMission - Not a direct example, but you have to race against the fluid flowing through the pipes as you lay them.
* WrapAround - Some levels have holes in the side of the arena that transfer the fluid flow to the opposite side of the screen.

* SchmuckBait - The last two levels have only two empty spaces between the start and end pieces via a screen wraparound. The minimum distance is well over 20 though, so directly joining the terminators is a guaranteed Game Over.

* BreatherLevel - At level 17, after eight levels of obstacles and one-way sections, you are presented with an arena free of obstructions, no arrowed pieces, and only a minimum distance of 12 to beat (which is less than the first level). While a breather in one sense, the dispenser sequences become a lot more random and the fluid races through the pipes after a short time.