A level containing 5 connected flows.
A flow, commonly referred to as a "pipe", is a connection of 2 dots with the same color that appears in all four games: the Flow Free App and its expansions (Flow Free: Bridges, Flow Free: Hexes and Flow Free: Warps).
A flow comes in various lengths and colors. There are 16 colors in the game, meaning that in a level, a maximum of 16 flows will appear. However, 16 flows in one level isn't always a thing, because in fact, the amount of flows in one level depends on the board size. For example, 4 or 5 flows may appear in a 5x5 level, while 15 or 16 flows may appear in a 15x15 level.
Without flows, it would be impossible to play any of the 4 games, as they serve a core purpose into this game, which is connecting them to complete a certain level, then advancing to the next level.
Appearance[]
A flow only has two dots, not more nor less. Therefore, it would be impossible to play the games if a flow only has one dot. In addition, it would also be impossible to complete a level if the amount of dots in a flow is an odd number.
It also has a minimum length of 2 blocks, while in some parody games, such as "Connect" from the Talking Tom and Friends series, the minimum length is one block. There isn't really a maximum length, as it can vary in different levels.
It can also have color labels that will appear on the colored dots. This option can be enabled via Settings, then turning color labels on. That way, color labels will appear on the colored dots. They are solely designed to help colorblind people to solve levels. They can also be used for aesthetic purposes, too.
Flow creation[]
To create a flow, the player must connect a colored dot to another dot with the same color. For example, if there are two unconnected red dots, the player must tap, then hold the red dot for about less than a second (there is no time limit for tapping and holding a colored dot), then drag until they reach the other red dot. This action must be repeated until all flows are connected with the board being completely filled with flows.
A flow shouldn't cross into another, otherwise, the other flow will break, and thus will have to manually be created again until both flows are connected correctly.
Once the player taps on a colored dot that has already been connected, the flow disappears. This can be used to reset a flow, but it could sometimes easily happen.
Other features[]
Flows connected[]
The "flows connected" feature represents the amount of flows that are connected into a certain level. A level could have, for example, 7 flows, but 3 are connected, so on the top left corner of the board, it would show as "flows: 3/7". If it shows the maximum amount of flows completed (for example: "flows: 7/7"), then the level is complete. If the first number shows 0, then it shows as "flows: 0/7", which means that no flows are connected, yet.
Pipe percentage[]
The pipe percentage feature represents the percentage of the level filled with flows. A 5x5 level contains 25 squares, so dividing 100 by 25, it would make 4, which means that if a flow is connecting square by square, it would add up 4% by 4% in the pipe percentage. Usually, if the pipe percentage is 100%, that means the level is complete. However, in some rare cases, the pipe percentage can by 100%, but the level isn't complete. This is because the entire board is filled with connected flows, but not all flows are connected. This could also be possibly with the other way around. All flows should be connected along with the pipe percentage being 100% in order to complete the level.
Trivia[]
- In one update, Big Duck Games LLC added animations to the flows so that they can look somewhat similar to the animations that appear when clicking a button in one of Google's software.
- Flows take a very essential part in the games. Without them, there would be no purpose in playing the games.
Achievements • Board Size • Color Labels • Dialog • Flow • Flow Free Updates • Hint • Languages • Level • Move • Settings • Store • Themes • Time Trial