Welcome to your resource on Pips, the newest addition to the New York Times game lineup. Launched in August 2025, Pips offers a fresh take on dominoes, crafting an enjoyable single-player experience that might just turn into your next daily gaming routine. Presently, if you’re having trouble, the game only provides the option to uncover the entire puzzle, compelling you to advance to the next level of difficulty and restart. However, we’re here to assist you! Below are incremental solutions that will act as clues to help you navigate through each difficulty tier.

How to play Pips

If you’ve ever engaged with dominoes, you’ll be somewhat familiar with how Pips operates. As mentioned in our earlier hint posts for Pips, the tiles, similar to dominoes, are oriented vertically or horizontally and interconnect. The key distinction between a classic dominoes match and Pips lies in the color-coded conditions that must be fulfilled. Adjacent tiles do not necessarily need to align.

The conditions to be fulfilled pertain to the color-coded spaces. For instance, if a space indicates a single number, every side of a tile within that space must sum to the indicated number. It’s possible — and quite normal — for only a portion of a tile to reside within a color-coded space.

Here are typical examples you’ll encounter across the various difficulty levels:

Number: The total of all pips in this space must equal the specified number.
Equal: Each domino half in this area must show the same number of pips.
Not Equal: Each domino half in this section must display an entirely different number of pips.
Less than: Each domino half in this location must total less than the number.
Greater than: Each domino half in this space must accumulate more than the number.
If a section lacks color coding, it indicates that there are no requirements for the parts of the dominoes occupying those areas.

Easy difficulty hints, answers for April 12 Pips

Number (22): All elements in this purple space must total 22. The solution is 6-6, positioned horizontally; 5-0, oriented vertically; 5-4, laid out horizontally.
Number (4): The domino half situated in this red space must total 4 pips. The solution is 5-4, arranged horizontally.
Number (4): All elements in this light blue space must add up to 4. The solution is 2-2, positioned horizontally.
Equal (4): Each domino half in this area must have 4 pips. The solution is 4-1, positioned vertically; 4-2, laid out horizontally.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for April 12 Pips

Less Than (3): The domino half in this purple space must be less than 3 pips. The solution is 2-4, positioned vertically.
Greater Than (5): The domino half in this red space must possess more than 5 pips. The solution is 6-4, laid out horizontally.
Equal (4): Each domino half in this light blue space must show 4 pips. The solution is 6-4, laid out horizontally; 2-4, arranged vertically.
Equal (6): Each domino half in this yellow space must have 6 pips. The solution is 6-6, arranged vertically.
Less Than (3): The domino half in this purple space must be below 3 pips. The solution is 2-5, laid out horizontally.
Equal (5): Every domino half in this dark blue space must indicate 5 pips. The solution is 2-5, laid out horizontally; 5-5, positioned horizontally.
Number (1): All elements in this red space must total 1. The solution is 1-3, positioned vertically; 0-5, positioned horizontally.
Number (10): All elements in this green space must add up to 10. The solution is 4-5, laid out horizontally; 0-5, laid out horizontally.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for April 12 Pips

Number (6): Everything in this purple space must total 6. The solution is 2-2, positioned horizontally; 3-6, positioned horizontally.
Number (0): Everything in this red space must equal 0. The solution is 0-3, laid out horizontally; 0-6, arranged vertically.
Less Than (6): The domino half in this light blue space must total less than 6. The solution is 0-3, positioned horizontally; 2-1, arranged vertically.
Number (0): All elements in this dark blue area must have 0 pips. The solution is 2-0, arranged vertically.
Number (6): Everything in this yellow space must sum to 6. The solution is 2-1, oriented vertically; 5-0, arranged vertically.