Water Works
To say that Water Works is THE classic leaky pipe game of the 1970s is, well, obvious. Was there some other leaky pipe game? Or some alternate 1970s where leaky pipe games were coming out left and right? I guess it makes sense to put that on the box, for the people who haven't always known about it. ;-)
I played this many times as a kid, and it was probably in my closet full of board games that I gave away a few years ago. When the little package showed up in my mailbox (from eBay), it was smaller then the box I remembered. In fact, I remembered that old box so well that my brain has a size category of boxes called "about the size of an old Waterworks box", which is admittedly weird.
Anyway, it was a more compact box with just the cards, wrenches, and rules. The old box had a fitted plastic inner lining that these days would be classified as "waste". But on to the important stuff ... was the game as fun as I remembered?
Yup.
It looks like there are a lot of rules in that tiny booklet, but they mostly explain the proper alignment of pipes and a few illegal moves that players might try. We ramped up to a breakneck speed within just 4 or 5 hands. Here are some of our pipelines ...
First, Anne went all wiggly and won the first game.
Then we had a fairly even match where I regretted using a T-pipe.
And in the last round, after I tried my best to split off her pipe and break it -- look at that wreckage in the left-hand pipeline -- she took a straight shot to the edge of the table and won again.
This brought back memories, and is certainly going to be played again. And again. It is a classic, with its uniquely strange shape-fitting path-building puzzle feel. Plus the fun of playing leaks on your opponent, and the annoyance of getting leaked upon. And the comedy of holding onto your wrenches and losing turns, knowing you can't take 'em with you in the end.
It was a blast from the past that still has its twists and turns and T-joints and gushers ... and copper is the new gold. Cheers.
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