How to Play (and Win) Pips
Pips , the NYT domino game, recently came out of beta and made a splash on the Games page and app this week. We’ve already told you what Pips is , but now I’d like to discuss gameplay and strategy.
Where to play Pips
Pips is available for free on the NYT Games page and in the Games app for subscribers.
Game Tips
Each day, Pips offers three games: easy, medium, and hard. The first time you play, there is a short tutorial. Click on a domino to rotate it, then drag or click to move it onto the board. The board shows the rules to follow; play continues until you have placed all the dominoes and followed all the rules.
After solving a puzzle, you will see the main metric – the time spent on its solution. If you wish, you can enable the timer display during the game.
When you start, avoid the following things that may confuse you:
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The rules of traditional dominoes do not apply here . Adjacent tiles do not have to have the same number, and you cannot place the end of one tile so that it touches the middle of another.
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The numbers for each region represent the sum , not the value of each square . So if there are two squares labeled “2”, that means each square can be filled with one single-dot domino, not two double-dot dominoes.
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All spaces where a domino can be placed are shaded, even if they do not have a label . A domino cannot be placed where there is no free space for it, and all such spaces will be filled by the time the puzzle is solved.
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If you have forgotten the meaning of the symbols, click “Reference” to get an explanation of the labels . This is just a cheat sheet, it does not contain a complete guide.
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Remember the difference between “greater than” (>) and “less than” (. As my elementary school math teacher told me, this symbol represents an alligator’s mouth that is between two numbers and wants to eat the larger of the two. So if the label says “>3”, that means my number, let’s call it X, and it can be greater than 3 in a sentence because the alligator wants to eat my number.
How to Win (Fast)
I’m still new to Pips myself, but I played a few before writing this guide. Fan-made pips.io allows unlimited play, so it’s a great way to practice. NYT has a habit of shutting down fan versions of their games, so hopefully this one will stick around for a while. (I learned about it from the r/nytgames subreddit.)
In the tips below, I’ll refer to each end of a domino (or the space it sits on) as a “square.” Here are the strategies that I’ve found to be helpful so far:
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Consider single-square areas first . Sometimes these only offer one possible solution or narrow down the options.
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Pay attention to shapes that can only go in one position . For example, four squares in a block could mean two dominoes placed vertically or two placed horizontally. But if there is a vertical line with many squares, and only one square beyond that line, you know that the square outside the line indicates a horizontal domino. This will help you get started placing dominoes correctly, even if you don’t know exactly which ones go where.
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Count the number of identical numbers . For example, if there is an area marked with an equal sign, and there are four squares in that area, then there must be a number in your set of dominoes that is repeated at least four times. If you have four six-point squares, this is possible. But if you only have three five-point squares, you know that the number repeated in the equal area will not be five.
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If there is an area that sums to a relatively large number, save it for later . There are many ways to get to 13, but fewer ways to get to 2. Work with smaller parts first.
So far, I don’t feel like I need a clever strategy to solve the daily puzzles in a minute or two; even the hard ones don’t seem that hard. For now . If I’ve learned anything from the new NYT games, it’s that they start you off with easy puzzles, then dump harder ones on you when you’re not paying attention. If you spot any strategies I’ve missed, let me know below.