Pips is the latest game in The New York Times catalog. Released in August 2025, the puzzle puts a distinctive spin on dominoes, offering a single-player experience that could become part of your daily gaming routine.
If you get stuck, Pips currently reveals the entire puzzle rather than offering individual hints. These step-by-step answers provide a way to work through each difficulty level without skipping ahead.
How to play Pips
If you have played dominoes, you will already recognize some of Pips’ basic mechanics. Domino-style tiles are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with one another. However, unlike traditional dominoes, Pips uses color-coded spaces with specific conditions. Connected tiles do not necessarily need to match.
The required conditions depend on the color-coded space. When a space shows a number, for example, the relevant tile portions must add up to that number. In some cases, only half of a domino will occupy a color-coded space.
- Number: All the pips in the space must add up to the displayed number.
- Equal: Every domino half in the space must contain the same number of pips.
- Not Equal: Every domino half in the space must contain a different number of pips.
- Less than: Every domino half in the space must add up to less than the displayed number.
- Greater than: Every domino half in the space must add up to more than the displayed number.
Uncolored spaces have no conditions for the portions of dominoes placed within them.
Easy Pips hints and answers for August 27, 2026
- Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 1-4, placed horizontally.
- Number (3): Everything in this space must add up to 3. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally.
- Greater Than (5): Everything in this space must be greater than 5. The answer is 2-6, placed horizontally.
- Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 1-4, placed horizontally; 3-6, placed horizontally; 2-6, placed horizontally; 5-3, placed horizontally.
- Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-5, placed horizontally.
Medium Pips hints and answers for August 27, 2026
- Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically.
- Less Than (4): Everything in this space must be less than 4. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 1-5, placed vertically.
- Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 3-5, placed horizontally.
- Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 3-5, placed horizontally; 1-5, placed vertically.
- Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 6-2, placed vertically; 4-2, placed horizontally.
- Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 2-2, placed horizontally.
- Greater Than (6): Everything in this space must be greater than 6. The answer is 5-5, placed vertically.
Hard Pips hints and answers for August 27, 2026
- Equal (4): Everything in this space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally.
- Number (7): Everything in this space must add up to 7. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 1-5, placed vertically.
- Number (5): Everything in this space must add up to 5. The answer is 5-3, placed horizontally.
- Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 5-3, placed horizontally.
- Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 5-3, placed horizontally; 1-3, placed horizontally; 3-3, placed vertically.
- Equal (5): Everything in this space must be equal to 5. The answer is 1-5, placed vertically; 5-6, placed vertically.
- Equal (1): Everything in this space must be equal to 1. The answer is 1-3, placed horizontally; 1-6, placed horizontally.
- Equal (6): Everything in this space must be equal to 6. The answer is 1-6, placed horizontally; 6-6, placed vertically; 5-6, placed vertically.
- Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 5-4, placed vertically; 2-0, placed vertically.
- Number (8): Everything in this space must add up to 8. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 2-4, placed vertically.
- Number (0): Everything in this space must add up to 0. The answer is 2-0, placed vertically; 0-3, placed horizontally.
- Number (4): Everything in this space must add up to 4. The answer is 0-3, placed horizontally; 1-2, placed horizontally.
- Number (6): Everything in this space must add up to 6. The answer is 1-2, placed horizontally; 2-4, placed vertically.
Looking for more puzzles? Mashable’s games hub includes Mahjong, Sudoku, free crosswords and more.
Source: mashable.com
