Game: Very Clever Pipe Game, The

Thread: Re: The Random Gamer at the Cottage Next Door: Game #15 The Very Clever Pipe Game (GG Prize!)

emike — 2008-11-14T10:11:01+00:00

Thanks.

Thread: Re: The Random Gamer at the Cottage Next Door: Game #15 The Very Clever Pipe Game (GG Prize!)

EndersGame — 2008-09-08T14:39:40+00:00

emike wrote:
You should have tipped 0.01 GG instead.
Of all the answers submitted, I liked this one the best!
(The suggestion to duel with cutlasses came a close second)

Well done, your 1GG prize has been awarded.

Thread: Re: The Random Gamer at the Cottage Next Door: Game #15 The Very Clever Pipe Game (GG Prize!)

quozl — 2008-07-31T19:51:23+00:00

You should have challenged her to a duel with your "cutlasses".

Thread: Re: The Random Gamer at the Cottage Next Door: Game #15 The Very Clever Pipe Game (GG Prize!)

cooler king — 2008-07-29T18:26:21+00:00

Complain to the manager, ask for some sort of compensation against your bill (wait staff is usually not authorized)and then tip smaller if you must(down to an absolute minimum of 10%), but not ridiculous (15 c.). The water glass trick is well known, and only serves to reinforce the belief that YOU were a bunch of a******s that the restaurant is glad to be rid of. I doubt that the waitress spilled your soda intentionally, and she did go for towels to clean up (should always carry one). Most restaurants aren't used to having games played in their dining rooms, and spills (shudder) happen in game sessions in people's homes as well.

If I seem a bit generous, I must reveal that I spent a long summer as a Room Service waiter back when I was a teenager.

edit: added "if you must" and "absolute"

Thread: Re: The Random Gamer at the Cottage Next Door: Game #15 The Very Clever Pipe Game (GG Prize!)

jimmcmahon — 2008-07-29T14:17:51+00:00

Get a glass of water with no ice, hopefully without it being spilled all over you. Make sure the glass is as full as possible. You may need to supplement it with water from other glasses. Take the glass and put the $.15 into the glass. Get a plate. It doesn't need to be clean, just not messy. Place the plate, upside-down, on top of the glass. Now, carefully holding the plate firmly against the glass, quickly flip the stack over and place the plate on the table. You should now have a plate with a glass full of water and the tip on top of it. With any luck, the water will not be noticed by the waitress when she comes back and picks up the upside-down water-filled glass to retrieve the money.

Jim

Thread: Re: The Random Gamer at the Cottage Next Door: Game #15 The Very Clever Pipe Game (GG Prize!)

emike — 2008-07-24T05:25:15+00:00

You should have tipped 0.01 GG instead.

Thread: The Random Gamer at the Cottage Next Door: Game #15 The Very Clever Pipe Game (GG Prize!)

EndersGame — 2008-07-24T04:24:01+00:00

Mr. HomoLudens: Well, I just spent a week at a cottage north of Toronto and played some games. Oddly enough, BGG user Ender Wiggins (EndersGame) and his family were at the cottage next door, so we decided to let him and wife play too. Sometimes we even let one or two of his kids play. Yes, the man has kids, although they don't often appear in his many, many photos. We did not let him take any pictures of our games, because the man's made enough GG already.

Mr. Ender: There's nothing like being on vacation and discovering that the random person in the cottage next door is a fellow gamer. The Very Clever Pipe Game was Game #15 in the many game sessions (see the first here) that resulted from this amazing discovery.

The Very Clever Pipe Game Goes to a GeekAuction

This was the final game we played at the cottage. I'd picked up this game at a GeekAuction a long time ago. Apparently, all those pictures and all that GeekGold is worth something after all! (ha!)

The Very Clever Pipe Game Goes to a Cottage

Altogether we had half a dozen plays of this, mostly with the Junior Enders. It's a clever little puzzle type game, regarded by many as one of the better choices in the Cheapass line. The components are quite basic, but it's a fun diversion, and quite different from most other games. Given that it is so inexpensive, it's worth picking up, especially if you like puzzle type games.

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Upon my return from vacation, The Very Clever Pipe Game has since been played twice, both times in restaurants. The story of both is worth telling:

1. The Very Clever Pipe Game Visits Burger King

Mr. Ender and Mr. Bean (a friend of Mr. Ender who shall remain nameless) have recently initiated a "Society Crawl". What's a Society Crawl, you ask? Well it's a mission where a pair of Society members visit as many fast food establishments as they can in one evening on a budget of under $20. Pico 2, Loco, and Hive also saw play during Society Crawl #2, but it was the Very Clever Pipe Game that made an appearance at Burger King (only after the staff had first been grilled with two random questions from The Complete Book of Questions, in accordance with Society Crawl Regulations, and a discounted Whopper negotiated and purchased.) As for the game, Mr. Bean pipped Mr. Ender by a few points, displaying great natural Pipe Playing Talent. Apparently playing clever pipe games heralds back to medieval times (although at that time it was played with clever sticks instead of clever pipes), and his professional interest in medieval history gave Mr. Bean a natural advantage. His close affiliation with papal funds might also be a factor. At any rate, of the four two-player games that saw the table as part of our "Society Crawl" that evening, he said it was his favorite of the night. For the record, the table top dance also ranked highly, and the Whoppers were excellent (but please, no pickles. I said: No pickles!).

2. The Very Clever Pipe Game Visits Buccaneers Bar and Grill

Remarkably, Mrs. Ender and me happen to celebrate our wedding anniversary on exactly the same day as one another. Really, what are the odds? 1 in 365? Perhaps it's because we got married to one another on the same day? At any rate, it's awfully convenient, because at least one of us is bound to remember the date!

So anyway Mr. & Mrs. Ender decide to go out for a romantic wedding anniversary meal by the beach, to celebrate the occasion. Buccaneers Bar and Grill is the place of choice, although oddly enough no pirates seem to be in attendance, although the steak knife provided with the ribs could serve as a good cutlass in a tight spot. But I digress. So what romantic wedding anniversary meal is complete without some very clever pipes? Really, when is the last time you considered adding very clever pipes to your wedding anniversary festivities? It's a must!

So Mr. & Mrs. Ender sit down on the outdoor patio at the Buccanneers Bar and Grill, awaiting their drinks with a very special session of The Very Clever Pipe Game. Only snag: the waitress arrives with the drinks tray, promptly drops the drinks on the table, and splashes Diet Coke all over the very clever pipes! Not very clever, Ms. Waitress! I have not consulted the rules, but I'm quite certain that this kind of play is illegal. Not to mention that cola clogs up pipes! She mutters a hasty apology and toddles off to get some dry cloths, so that we can wipe down the table and attempt to dry off the cards, and try to regain our dignity.

Warning: Do Not Try This At Home! Very Clever Pipe Cards Turn Brown When Drowned In Diet Coke! I'm not sure why the manufacturer doesn't include this warning in 27 different languages with the game. I suppose it's because it is a Cheapass game, and they are trying to cut costs and don't have room for that kind of thing.

At any rate, needless to say, this particular game comes to a rude and abrupt conclusion before it is anywhere near completed. Perhaps I should launch an official grievance with Diet Coke? Because now I'll never know whether it was the white or black pipes that would win! As it turned out, Ms. Waitress didn't offer to compensate us in any way for ruining our game session plus DietCokerizing some of our game components! I'd like to think that my Scrooge-like tip of 15 cents was more than justified, don't you think? At any rate, our marriage survived this terrible ordeal, so happy anniversary to Mrs. Ender.

Question for the wise: What would you have done in this situation? 1GG prize for the best answer!

Well thank you to Mr. & Mrs. HomoLudens for a wonderful week of company, and some excellent sessions of gaming and other fun. I will be sure to introduce myself to my neighbours when cottaging in the future, and who knows what manner of scurvy troubadour or wendell buurman in the adjoining cottage might prove to be a fellow board game geek.

NB: My final session report in this series (for Game #11, War of the Ring) should be forthcoming shortly.

Thread: Pipe Laying for Fun (not much profit though)

geneandcourtney — 2007-11-28T16:07:43+00:00

Introduction:

The Very Clever Pipe Game , or VCPG for short, was designed (and oh so modestly named) by James Ernest and published by Cheapass Games. The VCPG is a tile (card) laying abstract strategy game for 2-4 players with an (loosely) estimated playing time of 30 minutes. Cheapass doesn't specify a target age, but I can't see anyone older than 7 having a problem grasping the mechanics. Part of Cheapass's hip pocket line, the VCPG retails for a whopping $4.00.

The theme is basically defined by its mechanics, which involves connecting pipes (and as an option for 2 and mandatory in a 3-4 player game, the underlying steel & stone floors) of a particular color. Any theme present isn't so much pasted on as essentially nonexistent, which suits this particular game just fine. The VCPG isn't going to make you feel like you're a Napoleonic general commanding his troops or a flock of fish-mad penguins, but I guess if you really need a theme you can imagine yourselves as renegade pipe fitters (and masons?) battling for supremacy in a twisted labyrinth of their own making. Happy now?

Components:

Like most Cheapass games, the VCPG ships with a very minimal set of components, in this case a deck of 48 small rectangular cards. That's it. There used to be a version with 120 cards, but they downsized. However unlike most Cheapass games, the VCPG only needs what's in the bag – i.e the 48 cards. They are printed with decent-looking grayscale CG pictures of black and white pipes running over light and dark floors, and while on relatively flimsy card stock (the same as the majority of the hip pocket line) are good for the price. The small deck size also makes the VCPG extremely portable, fully living up to the “hip pocket” moniker. The rules are printed on a small fold-out sheet of paper, clearly cover three game variants and provide examples with pictures.
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Setup & Gameplay:

The setup for the VCPG consists of picking a variant, shuffling the deck and picking what colors you're going to play. Also you will need to have an area on which to lay out your pipes, but given the small number and size of the cards, as well as the fact that you will be picking them up off the table as you score, this does not need to be very large and should be agreed upon by the players beforehand. As the VCPG is played on an imaginary, infinite grid, you could make the game take up as large a space as you want – but if you find yourself taking the crosstown bus between moves I doubt you're going to get a lot of repeat plays. Usually people agree to confine it to a relatively local area, like the kitchen table or living room floor.

Gameplay consists of drawing a hand of 9 cards and trying to play a card so that your pipes (or floors) connect to ones of the same color (cards do not have to be played touching other cards), and trying to cap off continuous pipe networks of their color, creating a set which is then collected off the table and scored. Note that a set cannot be scored if it has any open outlets, they must all be capped. A single card is drawn at the end of the turn, and play continues until the deck and player's hands are exhausted, so every single card has been played. The player who collected the greatest number of cards wins. Absent a lot of analysis paralysis-prone players, games can easily come in under the 30 minute mark.

While analysis paralysis could be a problem, it shouldn't be excessive given the relatively light nature of the game and the relative ease with which you can see your available options (except perhaps for the above crosstown bus scenario). Although I suppose you could play this as multi-player solitaire by building completely separate pipe networks, the VCPG will usually involve a lot of player interaction. Since both color pipes run across the same cards, this will probably take the form of A) stealing large chunks of your opponents pipe networks and B) adding more outlets to the massive network they are trying to score, giving you more time to execute option A.

Conclusion:

The VCPG is a great option for anyone (with at least one friend) looking to spend no more on a light, highly portable abstract strategy game than on a gallon of premium unleaded. People who crave lots of colorful components or need to feel like they're part of some epic tale involving wizards, Nazis and crocodile pool parties should look elsewhere (or take massive doses of their preferred hallucinogen) before playing the Very Clever Pipe Game.

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amwiles — 2007-10-14T22:27:49+00:00

Pipe Cards

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amwiles — 2007-10-14T22:25:57+00:00

Rule Book Cover

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ZiggyZambo — 2007-10-08T21:21:00+00:00

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Caesar! — 2007-01-28T19:56:56+00:00

Some pipes in play

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EndersGame — 2005-11-26T13:54:50+00:00

The deck of 48 cards

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EndersGame — 2005-11-26T13:54:49+00:00

Information sheet

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EndersGame — 2005-11-26T13:54:48+00:00

Three sample cards

Thread: The Very Pipeish Game indeed

SeeMo — 2005-06-14T16:07:35+00:00

Prologue
I tend to find may Cheapass games rather interesting. I find
their idea of making cheap, weird themed and simple games, even with their bad or "missing" components, a welcome innovation. As my first Cheapass game I bought "The Very Clever Pipe Game" for the actually rather hefty price of 5,2 euros. Anyhow, onto the game.

Components
Well, for all I've heard this is pretty much one of the "best" games when it comes to the Hip Pocket series of Cheapass games. Why? Well, definetly not for it's actual components, their plain greyscale cardboard. The "great" thing about the component's in this game is in my opinion the fact that you don't have to dig any other components, like you have to do in many other Cheapass games. The only components in the game itself are the 48 cards which depict the possible constructions.

Goal
The goal of the game is to be the player with most points in the end of the game. Points are archieved by completeting constructions of your type (White pipes, black pipes, light floors, dark floors).

Gameplay
The gameplay is a bit different with different amount of players.

With 2 players each player is dealt a hand of 9 cards and then players choose which of them is going to build white pipes and which black pipes (or floors, the unchosen type of constructions are ignored). When there are 3 or 4 players, everybodys dealt a hand of 5 cards and everybody choses between white pipes, black pipes, light floors and dark floors.

After this players start placing cards on the table trying to make patterns of their choice. The cards have to be laid so that the pipes match, the floors dont need to match. A pipe-set is finished when it closed in every way, in such manner that it wouldn't leak water, but remember, two caps is not a set, and therefore not scored. When a set is finished, player of that type takes every card that is included in the set and places them in front of him in the "score" pile. The floors (or fields) are finished when their surrounded horizontally and vertically by floors of the other colour. If there are same colour of floors on the both sides of a pipe, the fields are one continuous field, this makes figuring out when a field is finished hard for some people. When it comes to fields theres no limit on how small a finished field can be, even one card sized complete fields are legible. Because the cards are 1x2 sized, theres a possibility that there comes a small one square big area where theres impossible to put a card. If this happens, it's called a "pillar", and all the pipes and fields leading to the pillar are capped from there. If a card finishes two different sets, the player which places the card collects his set and then the cards left from the other set goes to that sets player. If a card finishes constructions in such a manner that the board is cleared from cards, that player can choose to switch his type of constructions if he wants to. And ofcourse, when a player plays a tile he then takes one from the deck to his hand.

The game is finished when all the cards are played and then players count how many cards they have in their score pile. The player with most cards win.

Verdict
Well. The name is rather accurate. The Very Clever Pipe Game is a rather clever little pipe game. It is no Carcassonne tho. The game works quite well with two players and pipes, but I personally don't like the floors/fields. I find them rather irritating. If you can find this game for like maximum of 4 euros or dollars, which is propably it's real cost, I think that this might actually be a good buy. The 5,2 euros is in my humble opinion slightly too much. But in the end it's still a fast, easy to learn and at best challenging little game.

In the scale of the respectable BoardGameGeek rating system I'll tick this one off with a:

10 - Outstanding. Always want to play and expect this will never change.
9 - Excellent game. Always want to play it.
8 - Very good game. I like to play. Probably I'll suggest it and will never turn down a game.
7 - Good game, usually willing to play.
6 - Ok game, some fun or challenge at least, will play sporadically if in the right mood.
5 - Average game, slightly boring, take it or leave it.
4 - Not so good, it doesn't get me but could be talked into it on occasion.
3 - Likely won't play this again although could be convinced. Bad.
2 - Extremely annoying game, won't play this ever again.
1 - Defies description of a game. You won't catch me dead playing this. Clearly broken

The Very Clever Pipe Game - The Rather Clever Pipe Game

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EJKemp — 2005-03-21T13:44:09+00:00

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EJKemp — 2005-03-21T13:44:08+00:00

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viogression — 2005-02-17T16:49:27+00:00

Thread: Session Report

KentuckyKid — 2005-02-05T14:06:19+00:00

Two mildly clever gamers found a "Very Clever" game.
They played it to decide whether it lived up to its name.
The game entailed the laying of a mile or two of pipe.
They wondered if a game like this could live up to the hype,
Or would it fizzle in the end, like raindrops in a flame?

My rival drew first blood with a nice pipe containing three,
(That I had gone behind so quickly really bothered me...)
I didn't fully get this game; it all became a fuzz.
But I soon found my own three cards, and off I finally was.
I knew that I must catch on soon, or loser I would be.

On and on our struggle raged, for nearly half an hour.
With one side, then the other, claiming dominance of power.
When finally I closed a loop and took a final set,
We counted score, each wondering how many we would get.
'Twas twelve for me and ten for him, but neither of us dour.

The Very Clever Pipe Game is a clever game indeed.
I'm sure we'll play it often, if our game group will accede.

Darin: 12
Aaron: 10

Poetic license: recently revoked
Too much time on my hands on Friday night: priceless

Thread: Session Report

rgtft — 2004-06-06T17:30:55+00:00

Looking through the games on the gaming shelf, I came across "The Very Clever Pipe Game", by Cheapass Games. We hadn't played this one in a couple of years. Since the kids had never even seen the game, Bonnie & I played the two-player easiest game where you only need to match up the pipes by color (white or black). Once a system of pipes is totally closed, you get to remove the cards. The player with the most cards at the end of the game wins. The tile laying aspect of the game gave me thoughts of Carcassone. With some nice thick tiles (ala Carc) this game would probably be better received.

The first game Bonnie went first choosing to be Black. I had a great hand with plenty of end cap cards. I was able to complete a lot of short pipes which destroyed Bonnie's bigger plans when I removed my cards. This game wasn't even close.

Game one:
Rob: 23
Bonnie: 6

Not wanting to end with such a defeat, Bonnie demanded a rematch. Again Bonnie went first and chose Black. Having learned from last game, Bonnie went for shorter pipes scored a lot early. The game was very close but Bonnie won.

Game two:
Bonnie: 14
Rob: 12

Now the kids all want to give this a try.

Thread: User Review

zombiemonkey — 2004-02-24T22:34:01+00:00

The Very Clever Pipe Game is, as the title suggests, a very clever pipe game. Players take turns laying cards (which show twisty turny networks of pipes) in order to complete closed pipe systems. When a player closes a pipe system in their colour they take all cards that the system runs through and add them to a pile of cards to be scored at the end of the game. The game ends when no more cards can be placed by players (ie when they run out of cards), and the player with the most cards in their score pile wins the game.

The fact that the cards are taken out of play once closed pipes are completed means that the layout is continually altering to create new opportunities for each player to score, and the tiles never seem to grow out of control as in other Hip Pocket games such as Nexus - where towards the end of the game space always seems to run out (on our table anyway!). Games are often very quick due to the simple nature of the mechanics and the simple pipe laying/completing theme. This is complicated somewhat if more than two players want to play, as background colours are used for players three and four instead of just pipe colours (so dark and light pipes are used as well as dark and light background colours). While our group has not yet tried this variation, it does seem that it would add an extra layer of complexity that wouldn't translate to a more fun experience.

Far more simple to explain and to grasp than many other Hip Pocket games, it is a good introduction to tile laying games, and Hip Pocket games in general - as no other equipment is needed to play it is a perfect title to buy for even non gamers.

Thread: End cap variant

taraba — 2004-02-23T19:01:56+00:00

After a couple of plays, we decided that it seems odd to pick up a card that just has an end cap on it. Especially when you play a card with an end cap which completes a set and get to pick the card back up. Most of the time there wasn’t a need to match more than one pipe other than the end cap. So we made this rule:

When a pipe set is complete, you pick up any of the cards that complete that set but not cards that only contribute end caps to the set.

So pretty much you pick up just the pipes of the set. Cards with end caps get picked up when a pipe on them are part of complete set.

Some things that happen with this:
1) You don’t need that special rule that two end caps don’t get picked up since this rule makes it clear why.
2) There are more cards left on the table to play off of or have to conform to. This may be a blessing or a curse depending on your own opinions. Less likely to clear the board this way.
3) You now have more opportunities to make plays that complete your set AND leave a bad pipe on the table for your opponent with a one-card play.
4) Your opponent can’t pick up a part of a set you almost finished unless they had some pipe on a card and were at risk of you breaking their set too. (This was kind of a double whammy since they got a point for the little end cap and you were set back a couple of turns to put back what they destroyed.)

Thread: Re:General Comment

ct8055 — 2003-07-29T19:37:53+00:00

Geese (#2342),

Just curious... after repeated play, do the cards lose some of the stickyness that we ran into on our first few plays last night? It really made the beginning shuffle a chore.

Thread: User Review

Fishbulb — 2003-05-04T18:21:38+00:00

The rules are simple enough and they are covered pretty good in the Summary, so I will skip straight to the way it plays. It really is a puzzle game, so if puzzles aren't your thing, might as well stop reading now. I, however love puzzles so this was perfect for me.

I haven't played enough games yet to form a killer strategy, but what I can tell so far is there are enough different styles of play that it won't be a game to wear thin or get bland after repeated sessions. Decisions abound even in the first draw phase where you draw 9 and discard 4. Granted, the first game it's hard to tell which ones are good cards to keep, but only once through and it'll be clear which cards are good for easy building, for playing defensively, or for closing sets. And then it is up to you to decide which way to play... easy scoring, or messing with opponent?

When the game has actually started there are still plenty of choices. With 5 cards in hand, and probably a mess of pipes on the table to mull over, it can even reach the levels of "analysis paralysis". But it never seems to last long enough to hinder the game. Besides, you have your own cards to be thinking about. However, with more than two players, sets become more frequent making the board change drastically between turns. It is still fun, but much more random and strategies are usually thrown out the window. I generally try to stick with one-on-one pipes, unless others want to join in. So don't buy it for group gaming, it's a much better game with just 2.

I would rate this as a 2-player only 8/10.
I have played numerous times in a row, and just can't get enough. Being just 10 - 30 minutes, there is always time for one more.

With 3 or 4, however, more like 5/10.
Fun, but not exciting/special enough to bother with bringing it out. Of course, for less than $5, a 5/10 is still a good rating! And at least there is that option open to you if four are willing to play.

Thread: Session Report

BoardGameGeek — 2002-03-27T01:29:02+00:00

This was the first game of the day to hit the table and also the first time it had been played by the group. Recently republished (we were playing the republished version), the game is a pipe-laying game but with a couple of variants both as a two or four player game.

We played the most complicated version of combined pipes and fields with each player choosing one of the following: black pipes, white pipes, light fields or dark fields. The mechanism for this is interesting with the each player being dealt nine cards, and then each player in turn openly chooses one of the four pipe/fields to go for. They then discard four of their nine cards (these were reshuffled into the draw pile). Of course the last player has no choice of what to go for but they still get to choose which cards to keep.

The cards are oblong in shape and are played into a ‘virtual’ grid either horizontally or vertically. The only rule for this is that when placing cards adjacent to each other that like colour pipes must be joined. At no time are you forced to lay cards next to each other but they must be placed in such a way that they could later be joined to other groups of cards.

Play proceeds in the usual way with each player placing a card into the grid in turn and drawing a replacement card from the draw pile. Once all the cards are drawn, play continues until all cards have been played. The aim of the game is to either:

Complete a pipe system in the chosen colour.
Enclose a field with the field of the opposite colour (pipes are ignored for this purpose and that orthogonal enclosure is the norm).

Completed pipes/fields are removed from the board and count as one point/card at the end of the game. The person with the most points wins. Because of how the cards are placed it’s possible to have a square enclosed by the cards. If this occurs then this is considered to be a pillar and counts as closure for pipes or as an enclosure for fields.

A very tactical game and one that typically appeals to us as by removing completed pipes/fields you can really upset your opponents’ plans. File scores/ratings were as follows:

Tel 14 (7/10)
Paul 7 (7/10)
Oggie 6 (4/10)
Andy 8 (7/10)

Thread: General Comment

BoardGameGeek — 2002-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Granted, it's not the best abstract strategy / tile laying game out there, but one has to take into account its 3.00 cost. For me, it fits the bill perfectly as an 'emergency game'. I keep it in my coat pocket, and bring it out when needed. It's also very easy to learn, and my non-gamer friends seem to like it too.

Thread: Session Report