Producer Ben Wilkins Talks Pipe Mania, the Revival of a Classic Puzzler
By Louis Bedigian

“It's a good puzzle game that's stood the test of time, so why not introduce it to a new audience?”

If you were born after 1989, Pipe Mania may not be the most recognizable name in puzzle games. But if you played BioShock last year, then you've already gotten a taste of this classic franchise. That's because the hacking game, used for retrieving health items, upgrades and ammo, was largely inspired by Pipe Mania.

Though we don't know for sure that BioShock had any influence on Pipe Mania's future, Empire Interactive has finally decided to revive the series. "I think it's one of the most ported games ever," said Producer Ben Wilkins, speaking about the original game and its follow-up releases. "We believe it sold four million units on various platforms on various consoles. It's gone under different names: Pipe Mania, and Pipe Dream is another one, certainly the popular US title. It's being brought back on many other platforms."

PC Version

"[Pipe Mania] is not a stacker [puzzle game]," he continues, "and it requires more forward-thinking and thought than hand-eye coordination." Wilkins believes that the game is easy to learn but difficult to master. Anyone who's played the original – or the BioShock mini-game – is likely to agree. "Basically you're a plumber, and you have to get a liquid from point A to B through a series of pipes that get more and more difficult. The basic elements are Flooze, the liquid you're trying to transport, without spilling any." However, Wilkins insists that the new Pipe Mania will be easier to learn than the original. "The World Mode [story mode] is designed to be completed by everyone. The later levels get quite difficult."

On the development side, they too faced difficulties, primarily in creating equal controls across all platforms. "I think it's probably fair to say that the PS2 and PSP posed more problems insofar that the interface is much different from the PC. The DS stylus is kind of similar to a mouse in the way you can use it. So yeah, the PS2 and PSP were the most challenging and needed a bit rebalancing of the levels."

DS Version

Lots of old games are being remade for the current generation. What made Pipe Mania worthy of being remade as well?

Ben Wilkins: It's a good puzzle game that's stood the test of time, so why not introduce it to a new audience?

Tell us about the new gameplay features. How is this game different from the original, and what makes it better?

BW: It's a little difficult talking about the original Pipe Mania because it came out in so many guises and on so many platforms. It was kind of different on every one. Generally the original Pipe Mania had an arcade mode. What we've done with the new Pipe Mania is add some new modes. We have competitive play now. A story mode, which is probably the best introduction to the game's learning curve. New characters that hopefully are entertaining in their own right but also have a gameplay purpose to hinder the character. And new pieces, new mechanics, many more different types of Flooze, and many more levels. I think the original was at 64, maybe 128 levels. The new version, depending on platform, has between 250 and over 300 levels.

PSP Version

What are the seven different themes in the game, which are spread across Pipe Mania's 70 stages?

BW: You're talking about the themes from World Mode. What they do is offer you an introduction to the game. The first one is called Basic Pipes. It introduces you to the character called Alfonso, who is a survivor from the original game. That's a very easy level, quite similar to the original game. Then you move into the Sewers where you will be updated on everything that was in the classic game plus some new pieces. Then we move onto the Railroad, and that one moves away from the original game. We have brand-new types of Flooze. We have brand-new pieces so that you can change the pipes and change the direction of the Flooze. We have bridges so that you can cross over your pipes, which is something you couldn't really do in the original game.

Then we move into the Toy Factory, which introduces rubber ducks. The concept there is to get the ducks from the factory to the trucks. Then we have Electricity, again, a new Flooze type, and that's different insofar that Flooze normally flows steadily across the board. And electricity jumps, so it makes the level change quite quickly. Now the player has to be fast as well as clever to win these levels. The next one is the Internet, which introduces scrolling grids. The [playing field] is much bigger. So instead of getting it from one place to another, you have to get [the Flooze] across multiple screens. So it's a longer challenge. And then we have Super Pipes, and that basically combines everything you've come across before in the game to make a hard level. If you manage to complete that we have bonus types that use different play mechanics, different type puzzles, and the theme of that is drinks and straws.

Can you edit or design your own stages?

BW: Regrettably no. That would've been nice though.

Will this be a disc release on some and a download for others?

BW: I would imagine the PC will be download. Certainly a PC demo will be available to download, and [possibly] a PSP demo from the PlayStation Store.

PS2 Version

How is the multiplayer component being implemented across each version? Will there be any online functionality?

BW: Online functionality, not so much. On PC there is head-to-head on the same machine. PS2, head-to-head on same machine. PSP is two-player head-to-head. And DS is single-player only.

N+ will set a new standard in multi-platform releases by having exclusive levels in the PSP version that are different from the DS version. Will any version of Pipe Many offer an exclusive?

BW: No. We wanted to make the same game for every platform. That's kind of our goal.

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