Windlass Canal Locks

Every lift costs water

Only for iPhone

$2.99 · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPhone. Not verified for macOS.

iPhone

An idle game where the currency is water. Crank a flight of English canal locks, breast boats up in pairs to share a fill, and keep the summit pound from running dry. A flight of locks climbs the hill. The summit pound holds only so much water. Every boat that wants up must borrow a lockful — and the tolls only land when a boat exits the TOP. Windlass is an idle game about throughput, not just numbers. Painted narrowboats moor up below the flight; you tap each chamber's brass windlass to fill it and lift its boats one lock. Each cycle drinks the same lockful from the summit whether it carries one boat or two — so the craft is PAIRING: hold a lonely boat in a chamber until a partner slips in beside it, then lift both on a single shared fill. Twice the cargo, the water of one. The weather has opinions. Rain doubles the summit's refill; drought halves it and the queue backs up while you ration every lockful. Side pounds recapture spent water, a back-pump steams tolls back uphill, and hired hands turn the windlasses on their own cadence — hire the whole flight and boats keep moving even overnight. When the tolls justify it, dig the New Cut: the canal is surveyed away, and every Charter you claim pays +10% tolls and +10% water regen, forever. The company now grants a deed with every cut — Water Rights, Toll Rights, a wharfinger's ledger, the dry dock, horse marines, a beam engine, a long lease — one permanent pick that survives every canal after it. And the company keeps you busy between cuts. Waybills post three rotating contracts over the flight. The Royal Mail packet calls on a hard deadline and pays ×8 if she's over the top in time. Market Day stamps each real day with a modifier and a streak that never resets — it only pauses. A twenty-waypoint journey up-country unlocks six new painted hulls and permanent toll and water bonuses as your lifetime boats climb. And when the company judges you seasoned — forty boats over the top — the Keeper's Examinations open. Thirty hand-set puzzles, each a small flight with a fixed water allowance: leaky chambers that drink deep, narrow locks that take one boat at a time, side ponds that hand water back, barges that fill a chamber alone, and Royal Mail runs against the clock. Waste little and take three stars; the stars unlock brass and scarlet hulls and pay permanent toll and regen bonuses back on the working canal. • A living flight of 4–8 lock chambers, water levels animating with every fill • Paired locking: two boats, one lockful — the ×2 you engineer with timing • Rain and drought cycles that swing the whole water budget • Waybills, a timed Royal Mail packet, and daily Market Day streaks • A 20-waypoint journey with six hull liveries and permanent bonuses • The Keeper's Examinations: 30 hand-set lock puzzles with star ratings and canal-wide rewards • Deeds: choose one permanent grant at every New Cut • Side pounds, back-pump, auto-cranks, gate speed, cargo and trade upgrades • A quiet canal-side: herons, dragonflies, softly synthesized water and bells • Boats queue and the summit refills while you're away — 1 h free, extendable to 8 h or 24 h with a one-time purchase • Fully offline, no account, nothing collected Wind the paddles. Mind the water.

Ratings & Reviews

  • This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.

1.3 — The Keeper's Examinations • Thirty hand-set lock puzzles across five examination papers, opened at forty boats over the top • Each trial is a small flight on a fixed water allowance — leaky chambers, narrow locks, side ponds, barges, and Royal Mail runs against the clock • Waste little water for three stars; every star counts toward the milestone track • Star milestones unlock the Trial Brass and Examiner's Scarlet hulls and pay permanent toll and regen bonuses on the working canal • First clear of every trial pays a toll bounty scaled to your canal

Version 1.3

The developer, Jordan Wegner, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

  • Data Not Collected

    The developer does not collect any data from this app.

    Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

    Accessibility

    The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More

    Information

    Seller
    Jordan Wegner
    Size
    1.1 MB
    Category
    Simulation
    Compatibility
    Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
    • iPhone
      Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
    • Mac
      Requires macOS 14.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
    • Apple Vision
      Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
    Languages
    English
    Age Rating
    4+
    In-App Purchases
    Yes
    Copyright
    © 2026 Jordan Wegner
  • Privacy Policy

    • More by Jordan Wegner