waterworks

Description

Waterworks is a card game created by Parker Brothers in 1972. The game pieces consist of a deck of 110 pipe cards, 1 bathtub-shaped card tray, and 10 small metal wrenches. The object is for each player to create a pipeline of a designated length, beginning with a valve and ending with a spout.

Players begin with a hand of five pipe cards and two wrenches. Cards used in play are lead pipe cards, copper pipe cards (invulnerable to leaks), and lead pipe cards that are already leaky. The valve card is placed on the table to begin a player's pipeline, and the spout is set aside, to be used when the player has completed their pipeline.

A number of different pipe shapes (L-bends, T-pipes, straight, etc.) are represented in the game. Leaky pipes can only be added to another player's pipeline, and players cannot add to their pipeline until leaks are repaired. Leaks are repaired by either placing an intact pipe of the same shape over the leak or placing a wrench on the leak card. Play proceeds clockwise and new cards are drawn after cards are played. Players always have the option of exchanging a single card rather than playing a card.

Object

Players race to be the first to complete a continuous, leak-free pipeline that connects their valve card to their spout card.

Cards Required To Win

The minimum length of the pipeline required to win varies by the number of players, as follows:

Other Rules

• The first thing a player does on each turn is draw a card.
• Following the draw, each player can do one of the following items: (1) place a "good" pipe card on your pipeline, (2) place a metal wrench on a leaky pipe in his or her own pipeline, (3) place a "leaky" pipe card on another player's pipeline, or (4) discard a card face up in the "discard" pile.
• When a wrench is played to fix a leaky pipe, that wrench can never be moved and the player also discards a card into the discard pile.
• When a player's turn ends he or she should always have five cards in hand.
• Cards are always played vertically. No card can be played such that it is oriented 90 degrees, or "sideways," compared to the rest of the pipeline.
• No play is allowed which would create more than one leak on a player's pipeline at one time.
• In an addendum rule given to a player of the game as a lad, Parker Brothers cleared up this point: No card may be played on another player's track which prevents their completion of their track. As an example, you cannot place a leaky pipe on a player, which creates a 'spiral' of pipe from source to sink, such that the other player cannot complete their pipe.

Reissued Edition

Winning Moves Games has reissued the game as "Classic Waterworks." [1]

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