How to get an S in Pipeworks
Updated September 25, 2026. Figures come from the live game.
The short answer
Rotate pipe pieces until serum reaches every vat. Any solved board scores at least 600 (a B). The last 400 points come from using few taps (par) and finishing fast (8 seconds plus 2 per scrambled piece).
What Pipeworks decides
Rot Gardens, the Serum Lab and the Binding Pit are plumbed with Pipeworks, and so is fortifying the keep (two levels harder than your skill). Research moved to Serum Sort, expansion to Ruin Survey and Watchtowers to Signal Lamps.
| Grade | Score | Timer | Building quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | 900+ | Half | Masterwork: +20 % for good |
| A | 750+ | 70 % | Fine: +10 % |
| B | 550+ | 85 % | Standard |
| C | 350+ | Full | Standard |
| Fail | Under 350 | Nothing queued, nothing charged | Play again |
The scoring formula
| Part | Points | How to max it |
|---|---|---|
| Serum reaches every vat | 600 | Solve the board. Unsolved scores 0. |
| Taps | Up to 250 | Use par taps or fewer. Extra taps scale it down. |
| Time | Up to 150 | Finish within par time (8 s + 2 s per scrambled piece). It falls to 0 at four times par. |
Taps on welded pieces don't count and do nothing. Tapping faster than 120 ms per tap on average makes the run count as unsolved.
How to solve boards in few taps
- Start at the tank and trace outward. The piece touching the tank has only one correct turn.
- Work back from each vat too: a vat opens on one side, which fixes its neighbour.
- Plan a piece's turns before tapping. One tap turns a piece a quarter clockwise, so a piece that needs a quarter anticlockwise costs three taps.
- Leave welded pieces for last; they tell you which way their neighbours must face.
- Stop the moment serum reaches every vat. Taps after that are ignored, but they waste time.
How it gets harder
| Skill level | Board | Vats | Extra |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 × 4 | 1 | — |
| 9 | 5 × 5 | 2 | — |
| 12 | 5 × 5 | 2 | Welded pieces start |
| 20 | 6 × 6 | 3 | Move budget: run out and the board is unsolved |
| 22 | 7 × 7 | 3 | More welded pieces |
Questions players ask
What is the minimum grade for a solved Pipeworks board?
B. A solved board always scores at least 600, so plumbing is never worse than a B once the serum flows.
What is par in Pipeworks?
The number of taps the generator needed to scramble the board. Solving in par taps or fewer keeps the full 250 tap points.
Why was my Pipeworks run marked unsolved?
Either a vat was dry, you ran out of the move budget (level 20 and up), or you tapped faster than 120 ms per tap on average.