I know a lot of times I’ll criticize a game for not having enough “show”, but there are other times where simple just plain works.  Such is the case with Gas Tycoon.  It’s not even an original premise.  However, Gas Tycoon has a nice, clean interface, plenty of levels, and it’s engaging in its simplicity.  The only thing missing is some background music.

So what’s this game all about?  Basically you have a bunch of houses (or gas pumps if you play with the Oil Tycoon skin) that need gas.  Each level has one or more gas tanks with one or more outlets.  There is also a bunch of pipe lying around just waiting to connect the houses to the gas tanks.  Your job is to connect all the houses to all of the gas tanks using the available pipe.  Once all of the piping has been used and everything is connected (houses will light up and gas pumps will lose their closed sign) you win the level.  There’s no timer, so it pays to study the level carefully, as the number of moves can make a difference in your score.  Also, you have to keep in mind that unlike most games of this type, connections can be made “off screen” (for example, a pipe on the left edge of the screen can connect to a house on the right edge).

Rotating pieces is a simple mater of clicking objects on the screen.  You must always be conscious of the direction of rotation, however.  This can be changed by pressing a button in the lower right corner of the screen.  As you make moves you’ll notice your move counter going up and your score bar going down.  To an extent this is okay.  Each move you make initially deducts from your score.  However, if you finish the level in the allowed number of moves (indicated by the Best Score number in the upper right corner of the screen) you’ll still get the maximum score possible.  All together there are five level packs, so there should be enough to keep you busy for a while.

The graphics are simple but they get the job done.  There are three skins – default, oil tycoon and winter.  Oil Tycoon is probably the “fanciest”, where the houses get replaced with gas pumps that have a closed sign on them until they’re connected up.  Sound effects are limited to a click every time you rotate a tile and a trumpet sound once you’ve completed a level.  There is no background music, which naturally is a lot more noticeable in a slower paced game such as this one.  At least you can listen to something in your iTunes library as long as you start the music before launching the game.

Gas Tycoon is a low key implementation of the classic “pipes” genre that doesn’t break any new ground but handles itself quite nicely.  The ability to build paths that wrap around the screen is cool, as is the score being based on the ability to keep from making unnecessary rotations.  With a game like this I think it really boils down to which implementation you like better, and for me Gas Tycoon is one of the best I’ve played on the portable screen.  I’m looking forward to seeing what Gas Tycoon 2 has to offer.

Final Verdict: Recommended
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