Welcome to your resource for Pips, the newest entry in the New York Times gaming lineup.

Released in August 2025, Pips presents a novel approach to dominoes, offering an enjoyable solo experience that could become an integral part of your daily gaming habits.

If you find yourself at a standstill, the game currently exposes the entire puzzle, prompting you to progress to the next level of difficulty and restart. But fear not, we’re here to assist! Below are tips to guide you through each level of difficulty.

Playing Pips

If you’re accustomed to dominoes, you’ll grasp the basic mechanics of Pips. As outlined in our earlier tips for Pips, the tiles, akin to dominoes, can be positioned either vertically or horizontally and interact with one another. The main distinction between classic dominoes and Pips lies in the color-coded requirements you must fulfill. The adjacent tiles don’t always need to correlate.

The requirements you must satisfy correspond to the color-coded areas. For example, if a single digit is shown, all sides of a tile in that area must total the specified number. It’s common—and entirely possible—for only a portion of a tile to reside within a color-coded zone.

Here are typical scenarios you’ll face across various difficulty settings:

• Number: All the pips in this area must sum to the specified number.

• Equal: Each domino half in this area must contain the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this area must feature a different number 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 a section is devoid of color coding, it indicates there are no stipulations concerning the parts of dominoes within those areas.

Hints and Answers for Easy Difficulty on Oct. 16 Pips

Number (6): Everything in this red space must sum to 6. The solution is 4-3, arranged horizontally; 6