The New York Times has unveiled Pips, the latest addition to its assortment of daily games, joining Wordle, Connections, and Strands.

Debuted in August 2025, Pips brings a fresh perspective on dominoes. You don’t have to be adept at dominoes to succeed at Pips, as it is crafted for solo play.

How to engage with Pips

If you have experience with dominoes, you’ll find a solid foundation for Pips. Like dominoes, tiles are arranged either vertically or horizontally and interconnect. The primary distinction in Pips is the color-coded criteria you need to satisfy. Unlike traditional dominoes, adjacent tiles do not have to correspond.

The requirements you need to meet pertain specifically to the color-coded areas. For example, if a space shows a single number, all sides of a tile in that space must sum up to the specified number. It’s possible — and quite normal — for only a portion of a tile to occupy a color-coded area.

There are three levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, and Hard. As the difficulty increases, so does the number of tiles to place and the conditions to meet.

Here are typical examples you will come across at various difficulty levels:

– Number: All the pips in this area must total the specified number.
– Equal: Each domino half in this area must showcase the same amount of pips.
– Not Equal: Each domino half in this area must display entirely different amounts of pips.
– Less than: Each domino half in this area must total less than the specified number.
– Greater than: Each domino half in this area must total more than the specified number.

If an area is devoid of color coding, it indicates that there are no conditions for the pieces of dominoes within those sections.

If you find yourself at an impasse, consult our hints for today’s Pips challenge.

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