The goal
A snowstorm has frozen the village. Each level is a snowy grid with a glowing furnace and one or more frozen cabins. Lay copper pipes so that heat can travel from the furnace to every cabin. When the last cabin lights up, you win the level.
Every level is a fixed puzzle. The board, the pieces and their order are the same every time you play, and you can see the next pieces coming, so there is no luck: only planning.
Furnace
Frozen cabin
Warm cabin
The pipe pieces
Each pipe has openings on some of its four sides. Heat only passes between two tiles when both have an opening facing each other.
- Straight
- Corner
- T-junction
- Cross
Wildcard
- Straight connects two opposite sides.
- Corner turns the heat by 90 degrees.
- T-junction (from level 6) splits one line into two, so a single route can reach two cabins.
- Cross (from level 16) connects all four sides.
- Wildcard (a booster, from level 9) shapes itself when you place it, connecting to every neighbor that faces it.
Tap a piece to turn it a quarter turn clockwise. Turning is free and unlimited, so take your time.
Your hand and the hold slot
You don't choose from every pipe at once. Each level has its own line of pieces, and you hold three at a time. When you have placed all three, the next three are dealt. The next hand is always shown, dimmed, beside your current one, and a counter shows how many pieces are left in total.
From level 8 you also get a hold slot. Drag a piece from your hand into it to keep it for later. If the hold already has a piece, the two swap. Holding a corner you'll need three moves from now is often the key to a level.
Placing and replacing pipes
Drag a piece onto the board. The piece floats a little above your finger so you can see where it goes, and a ghost on the board shows a green outline where it fits and a red one where it doesn't. Openings that would join the heated network glow orange before you let go.
- You can place a pipe on any empty snow tile.
- You can also drop a new pipe on a placed pipe that doesn't carry heat yet. The old one is swapped out. This is how you fix a mistake without using Undo.
- Once heat reaches a pipe, it locks in place and can't be replaced.
- Open pipe ends that lead nowhere are fine and cost nothing.
How heat flows
After every move, heat spreads out from each furnace. The furnace sends heat out of all four of its sides. Heat moves from one tile to the next only when the openings of both tiles face each other, and it keeps going as far as the connected pipes reach.
A cabin warms up as soon as a heated pipe points an opening into it, from any side. Heated pipes glow orange along their whole length, so you can always see how far the heat has come.
Tip: watch the glow while you drag. If an opening glows orange, the piece will join the heat as soon as you drop it.
Winning, losing and stars
You win when every cabin (and lodge) on the board is warm. You lose if you run out of pieces, or if none of your pieces fits anywhere useful, before that happens. The fail screen shows which cabins stayed cold. Restart is always free.
Stars reward efficient routes. Every piece you didn't need to place is a spare piece, and each level says how many spares earn three stars and how many earn two. A win that used a Wildcard, a Thaw or a Continue earns one star, so stars always come from your own play. Your best result on each level is kept.
Ice, rocks, old pipes, lodges and two furnaces
New ideas arrive one at a time as you play through the chapters, each with a short introduction.
Ice block
Rock- Old pipe
Lodge
Ice blocks (from level 10)
Ice blocks the tile they sit on. When a heated pipe or a furnace is right next to the ice, it melts into snow at the end of your move, and the tile is free for a pipe. Melting is permanent. Plan a route that melts the ice first, then passes through.
Rocks (from level 13)
Rocks never move and never melt. Route your pipes around them.
Old pipes (from level 21)
Some boards start with old pipes already in place. They carry heat like any other pipe, but you can't move, turn or replace them. Use them as part of your route, or work around the way they point.
Lodges (from level 26)
A lodge is a big building that needs heat from two different sides before it warms up. Two pipes pointing into it from the same side don't count. T-junctions are your friend here.
Two furnaces (from level 31)
Later boards have two furnaces, and heat spreads from both. A cabin can be warmed from whichever furnace is closer, so look for the shortest way to cover all the cabins between the two.
Chapter finales
The last level of each chapter is a finale: a bigger puzzle with a long heat run that lights up several cabins in one sweep.
Undo, hints and boosters
Lantern hint- Wildcard
Thaw
- Undo takes back your last placement, including any heat and melting it caused. You get three free undos on every attempt, and the Clock tower in your village adds more.
- Restart is always free.
- Lantern hint shows one piece, where to put it and which way to turn it. The hint is worked out from your current board, so it is always a move that can still lead to a win. If your board can no longer be won, the Lantern tells you so, points to Undo and isn't used up. You start with three Lanterns.
- Wildcard is a pipe that takes whatever shape connects best to its neighbors. You get two free Wildcards at level 9.
- Thaw melts any ice block right away. You get one free at level 10.
- Continue: if you run out of moves, the fail screen offers to add two Wildcards so you can finish the level, once per attempt.
Boosters are always optional. Every level can be won without them, and the village keeps making free ones as you play.
Tips for tricky levels
- Look before you place. Check the next hand before using a piece: the corner you need may be two moves away.
- Work backward from the hardest cabin. Find the cabin with the fewest ways in, and plan the route to it first.
- Share routes. A T-junction or a cross can feed two cabins from one line, saving pieces for three stars.
- Park awkward pieces. Drop a piece you can't use yet on an unheated tile out of the way, then swap it out later. Or keep it in the hold slot.
- Melt ice early. Ice often guards the shortest path. Bring heat next to it first, then build through.
- Lodges need a fork. Plan a split in your route so two lines reach the lodge from different sides.
- Use the Lantern before you're stuck. A hint on a board that can still be won is a real step toward the win.
Embers and the village
Every win pays Embers, counted up on the win screen: Embers for each cabin and lodge you warmed, for each spare piece, for each new star, and a bonus for the first clear. Wins in a row add a streak bonus of up to 50%.
Spend Embers in the village. It has ten buildings, each with five levels, and every building does something useful: the Bakery bakes free Lantern hints, the Post office sends a daily parcel, the Blacksmith forges Wildcards, the Inn adds a bonus to every win and the Greenhouse grows free Thaws. Twenty-four decorations, from a bonfire ring to an ice palace, make the village your own.
Everything you build adds Warmth. Warmth milestones unlock new board colors and pipe skins, like Brass, Silver and Candy cane pipes.
The daily puzzle
After level 15, a new daily puzzle arrives every day. Everyone gets the same puzzle on the same day. Mondays and Sundays are relaxed, and Saturdays are a challenge.
- Your first solve each day pays 20 Embers plus 5 per star.
- Solve three days in a row for a bonus of 25 Coins, and seven days in a row for 75 Coins and a free Lantern.
- The daily streak is separate from your level win streak, and a daily puzzle you don't solve never touches your main streak.
Ready to try? Play the mini puzzle on the home page, or read the frequently asked questions.