Pipe Dreams and Pocket Schemes: Pipes Joins Backerkits Pocketopia 2026

British publisher Wotan Games are currently running a crowdfunding for a new fast paced 2-player card game called Pipes. The game, designed by Dave Battom, is a brain-twisting puzzle with both players trying to be the first to connect their pipeline to the opposite side of the board.

The game is played on a four by four grid made out of sixteen of the eighteen available Pipe Layout cards, initially all placed face down. Each player then replaces one of these pipes with their Starting Pipe, with the card it replaced going in to your hand. Play continues with you only able to turn over cards that are connected with your starting tile, or swapping tiles that are already turned to stall your opponenet. The last card played on any turn can not be replaced however. You keep playing until you connect your starting tile to the other side of the laid out cards - not your opponent’s starting tile. You can join your network up with your opponents, so be careful you’ve not left any rouge pipes in your own network that could be replaced for them to win!

Wotan Games will be at UK Games Expo at the end of May, with the Backerkit campaign wrapping up on Thursday 28th May. You can find the Pipes - When Water means War campaign page here.

Pipes is part of Backerkits Pocketopia 2026 promotion, which includes 50 portable tabletop games covering a wide range of themes and styles - from solo games, to family friendly or more strategic hobby titles. There are even a few tabletop roleplaying games available in the campaign too. For a full list of titles check out Backerkit’s Pocketopia 2026 page .