Water Connect Flow - Walk-through for Levels 1-25 - Review and Commentary - January 2022

================= What is Water Connect Flow? ===============

Water Connect Flow is a puzzle game based on the classic game Pipe Mania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pipe_Mania
This game appears meant to be played on a mobile device.

================= How to play ===================

The objective of the game is to turn pipe sections so that the water flows from the start of the pipe to the end without any water being lost. Players tap a section of pipe to rotate said pipe 90 degrees clockwise. Players have a limited number of moves to complete a level but the levels are untimed and there is no penalty for water waste.

================ Tips and Tricks =====================

You may not solve the puzzle on the first try. Do not fret or worry. Just experiment and try again.
The circle arrow will reset everything so you can start the level all over again.
If you need a hint, you can get them on the top right hand side. This requires you to watch an ad. You will receive three (3) or four (4) pieces and their correct positions should you do so. However, this may not always be helpful as the pieces selected really could not go any other way logically.
Typically players look at the puzzle from the start and work towards the finish. Sometimes, the puzzle is much easier if you start at the end and work your way to the start. Sometimes you need to do both and hope to meet in the middle. But this trick does not always work. (I know - very helpful hint.)
Some pipes are just there. They are not used in the solutions.
Some levels have split pipes. Each end either must merge back to the main pipe or be capped so there is no wasted water.
Some levels may have more than one (1) solution. This is a nice feature.
Experiment. You could stumble onto the solution.
Some levels could deceive you by thinking the solution is easier than you would expect. This is to lull you into a false sense of security.

================= What about advertisements? =================

There are way too many for this type of game.
Watching an ad for a hint, that is fine.
Inserting ads on the bottom of the screen, tolerable.
Watching an ad after each failure or restart of a level - grumbling acceptance.
Watching an ad after each and every level - absolutely annoying.
Considering the length, the difficulty of finding that teeny-tiny “x”, the time-gating of these ads aka forcibly watching them and the sheer quantity of them - is making me want to quit this game.

======= So what is the bottom line? Is this a worthwhile game? ==========

It's a nice casual game. Levels are fairly short - typically under a minute or two - so great while you have to wait a few minutes.

That being said - it is Pipes. There is only so much one can do with this kind of game. Adding a time element only increases the stress level and the difficulty but will not make the game more interesting and certainly not more enjoyable.

I realize programmers need to make money and I do not begrudge that aspect. However, I also dislike greed and the sheer volume of ads makes this game unplayable after about five (5) minutes. You could literally spend more time watching ads than playing the game - and this is not including those banner ads on the bottom of the screen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The above was written for the alpha version of the game.
However Youtube decided to terminate my account so I decided to give this game another chance now that it is out of alpha.

The Good

Making the levels have unlimited moves is a good thing. It was frustrating to “solve” the puzzle but realize you do not have the required number of moves to complete the level.
There is now music. When I did the alpha, there was no music. The music is somewhat relaxing and enjoyable.

The Bad

The amount of advertising is absolutely insane. I thought it was bad in the alpha version. It is far worse now. Ads are time-gated forcing you to endure them for at least 30 seconds. This is really annoying considering many of the levels can be completed in that time.

The Ugly

Where do I begin?
This game crashed on installed five (5) times before loading up. How many people would have tolerated that?
This game has an annoying tendency to crash when the ads are over. Not soft crashes but hard crashes where I have to restart Bluestacks - my Android emulator. If you installed this on your cell phone, I do not think you would be heaping praise on the programmers.
Speaking of ads, why is it that the ads are louder and more annoying than the game itself?
The first time I attempted level 16 - there was NO SOLUTION!!! I'm not talking a hidden solution or one I found later. When the level was reloaded from yet another reboot, the level was different so that the solution now exists.

Bottom Line: Do you recommend this game?

I can not. The game crashes far too much to give a relaxing and enjoyable experience. The ads will break the mood once the level is over. It took me two (2) hours (120 minutes) to play the first 25 levels of this game. This video is just over 13 minutes long. Need I say more? It's really a shame too as the game itself - once you get into the higher levels - is actually good.

+Timestamps
00:00 Level 1
00:12 Level 2
00:26 Level 3
00:48 Level 4
01:02 Level 5
01:22 Level 6
01:42 Level 7
01:56 Level 8
02:19 Level 9
02:38 Level 10
03:10 Level 11
03:37 Level 12
04:20 Level 13
04:46 Level 14
05:10 Level 15
05:50 Level 16
06:31 Level 17
07:03 Level 18
07:35 Level 19
07:59 Level 20
09:03 Level 21
09:56 Level 22
10:33 Level 23
11:24 Level 24
12:22 Level 25