The New York Times has expanded its suite of online games with “Pips,” a logic puzzle centered around dominoes, released in August 2025. The game challenges players to arrange dominoes on a grid, adhering to color-coded conditions that dictate numerical relationships between the tiles.
Unlike traditional dominoes, where matching numbers are key, “Pips” introduces constraints such as requiring all pips within a designated area to sum to a specific number, or ensuring that each domino half displays a different number of pips. The game likewise features conditions requiring equality, values less than a given number, or values greater than a given number. Areas without color coding have no restrictions on domino placement.
“Pips” joins a growing portfolio of games offered by the New York Times, including the Mini Crossword, Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed, Tiles, Wordle, and Connections. The introduction of “Pips” reflects the newspaper’s continued investment in digital puzzles as a means of attracting and retaining subscribers.
Currently, the game offers only a single option for assistance when players become stuck: revealing the entire puzzle, which resets the difficulty level. However, external guides are emerging to provide piecemeal hints for each difficulty level, assisting players without fully solving the puzzle.
The game’s mechanics, whereas drawing inspiration from dominoes, emphasize logical deduction and spatial reasoning. Players must consider the implications of each tile placement in relation to the color-coded conditions, often requiring strategic positioning of only portions of dominoes within designated areas. The New York Times Help Center describes the game as a visual logic puzzle where players arrange dominoes to meet varying conditions each game.
