Pips is the newest entry in the New York Times game lineup. Released in August 2025, this innovative game provides a unique spin on dominoes, offering an entertaining single-player adventure that could become your new daily gaming habit.
At present, if you find yourself at a standstill, the game reveals the entire puzzle, compelling you to progress to the next difficulty level and restart. But fret not, we’re here to assist! Below are tips that will guide you through each difficulty tier.
How to play Pips
If you have experience with dominoes, you’ll grasp the basics of how Pips functions. Just like dominoes, tiles are aligned either vertically or horizontally and interconnect. The primary distinction between classic dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you must fulfill. The adjacent tiles do not have to match.
The conditions you must satisfy pertain to the specific color-coded areas. For example, if a single number is specified, each side of a tile within that area must total the specified number. It is typical – and quite common – for just part of a tile to be within a color-coded area.
Here are typical instances you will face across the various difficulty levels:
– Number: All the pips in this area must sum to the specified number.
– Equal: Every half of the domino in this area must contain the same number of pips.
– Not Equal: Every half of the domino in this area must show a different number of pips.
– Less than: Every half of the domino in this area must add up to less than the specified number.
– Greater than: Every half of the domino in this area must add up to more than the specified number.
If a section is devoid of color coding, it indicates there are no requirements on the parts of dominoes in those areas.
Easy difficulty hints, answers for Sept. 15 Pips
– Number (1): Everything in this area must total 1. The solution is 1-5, positioned horizontally.
– Number (9): Everything in this area must total 9. The solution is 1-5, positioned horizontally; 4-4, positioned horizontally.
– Number (4): Everything in this area must total 4. The solution is 4-4, positioned horizontally; 0-3, positioned horizontally.
– Number (3): Everything in this area must total 3. The solution is 0-3, positioned horizontally; 0-1, positioned horizontally.
Medium difficulty hints, answers for Sept. 15 Pips
– Number (6): Everything in this area must total 6. The solution is 3-5, positioned horizontally; 6-3, positioned horizontally.
– Equal (6): Everything in this area must equal 6. The solution is 6-3, positioned horizontally; 6-6, positioned vertically.
– Equal (2): Everything in this area must equal 2. The solution is 2-0, positioned horizontally; 2-2, positioned vertically.
– Number (1): Everything in this yellow area must total 1. The solution is 2-0, positioned horizontally; 1-0, positioned horizontally.
– Number (2): Everything in this dark blue area must total 2. The solution is 2-1, positioned horizontally; 1-0, positioned horizontally.
– Equal (1): Everything in this area must equal 1. The solution is 2-1, positioned horizontally; 1-1, positioned vertically.
Hard difficulty hints, answers for Sept. 15 Pips
– Number (63): Everything in this area must total 63. The solution is 5-3, positioned vertically; 5-5, positioned vertically; 1-5, positioned vertically; 4-5, positioned horizontally; 5-2, positioned vertically; 3-4, positioned vertically; 4-4, positioned vertically; 3-3, positioned horizontally; 6-5, positioned horizontally; 4-2, positioned horizontally.
– Number (0): Everything in this red area must total 0. The solution is 0-0, positioned vertically.
– Number (0): Everything in this area must total 0. The solution is 0-0, positioned vertically.
– Number (6): Everything in this area must total 6. The solution is 6-5, positioned horizontally.
– Number (4): Everything in this area must total 4. The solution is 4-4, positioned vertically.
– Number (4): Everything in this area must total 4. The solution is 4-2, positioned horizontally.
– Number (1): Everything in this area must total 1. The solution is 1-5, positioned vertically.
– Number (1): Everything in this area must total 1. The solution