Living Pipes

About

Living Pipes is a single player action game. It was developed by Saeron Seok and was released on July 2, 2025. It received negative reviews from players.

Hired to fix a building, paid too much to ask why. In Living Pipes, a first-person narrative mystery game created as a senior project at Ringling College of Art and Design, you are sent to a remote building under mysterious circumstances. What starts as a routine repair job quickly unravels into something far more unsettling. Explore, repair, and uncover the truth. Navigate dimly lit corridors …

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

35%

Audience ScoreBased on 17 reviews

graphics6 positive mentions

story2 negative mentions

The game features impressive graphics that create an appealing visual experience.
The concept and story have potential, hinting at a creative and engaging narrative.
The game is free to play, allowing players to experience it without any financial commitment.

The game is plagued by numerous bugs, including soft locks and crashes, making it frustrating to play.
Gameplay is extremely short, lasting only about 10 minutes, which leaves players wanting more content.
Controls and puzzle mechanics are poorly explained, leading to confusion and a lack of intuitive gameplay.

graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
11%
22%
The graphics in the game are generally well-received, with many praising their quality and appealing aesthetic, particularly the low-budget dystopian style reminiscent of the early 1980s. However, some players noted that while the visuals are impressive, they do not compensate for shortcomings in gameplay and interaction. Additionally, there were issues with default graphics settings that affected the initial experience for some users.
- “The graphics in this game are really quite good, which at least makes the game look more appealing.”
- “I really wanted to recommend this game because the world is interesting and the visuals are quite good.”
- “The presentation for the game is very nice and the aesthetic is instantly recognizable as a low-budget dystopian future as envisioned from the early 1980s.”
- “Graphics are okay, but the interactions are terrible.”
- “I loaded into the game for the first time without changing the graphics settings, and the game had the highest graphics as default, which was a struggle with no in-game settings access.”
story
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
40%
40%
The game features a concise and engaging story that avoids overwhelming players with excessive quests, focusing instead on a brief narrative that players can interpret at their own pace. While the premise is fresh and intriguing, the overall experience is limited to about 10 minutes, which may be affected by technical issues.
- “Although the premise and story seem to be fresh and engaging, this game lasts 10 minutes, and that's even if you have to reload the game because of soft locks and poor optimization.”
- “It tells a short story; a snippet is all you need, no getting lost in unlimited resource quests or spooky quest logs.”
- “It is a nice take on maintenance jobs, and it does it well, hinting at a story that you can unravel yourself and take it for what it's worth.”
gameplay
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The gameplay received mixed reviews, with intuitive movement controls but a lack of clarity in environmental interactions and puzzle mechanics, particularly regarding the "route the flow" puzzles. Players expressed a desire for improved instructions and longer gameplay in future projects.
- “Some aspects of gameplay were intuitive, such as movement (the familiar WASD keys), but a lot of other aspects for interacting with the environment weren't.”
- “Another aspect of the gameplay that needed more explanation was the 'route the flow' puzzles because switching from one valve to another wasn't mentioned anywhere at all.”
- “However, I hope that their next project provides for longer gameplay and is clearer in instructions on how to play the game.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from significant stability issues, with players reporting frequent bugs and instances of being softlocked, including an unusual occurrence where one player completed the game unexpectedly upon entering a hotel.
- “The game is very buggy, and I kept getting softlocked. I completed the entire game the second I entered the hotel somehow.”
- “I experienced frequent crashes that made it impossible to progress.”
- “The game often freezes during key moments, ruining the overall experience.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
67%
The game's optimization is severely lacking, with issues such as no pause menu, poor audio control, and frequent soft locks that disrupt gameplay. While the concept and art are praised, players report significant performance problems and control difficulties that detract from the overall experience. A patch is recommended to address these critical issues.
- “The game has a fantastic concept and beautiful art, but there are some optimization issues affecting the smoothness of the gameplay and the controls when interacting with the pipes.”
- “The optimization in this game really enhances the overall experience, making it feel polished and enjoyable.”
- “I appreciate the effort put into optimizing the game, as it runs smoothly and allows for an immersive experience.”
- “Wait for a patch, because this game has no pause menu, terrible optimization, no volume controls (hits you with a super loud audio spike in the beginning of the game), and no rebinds (which might be a problem for some).”
- “Although the premise and story seem to be fresh and engaging, this game lasts 10 minutes, and that's even if you have to reload the game because of soft locks and poor optimization.”