Pips: today's domino puzzles, free

How to play Pips

Drag a domino from the tray onto the board. Tap a domino in the tray to rotate it, tap a placed domino to take it back. Each coloured region has a rule on its badge: a number is the total the region must add up to, = means all pips equal, ≠ all different, <7 a total under 7. The badge turns gold when the region is right and red when it can't be. Fill the board and every badge goes gold. Full rules and strategy on the how to play page.

Want more than three a day? Unlimited Pips never runs out. Missed a day? Every past day is in the archive.

Pips strategy and tips: how to solve the domino puzzle by counting

Pips is solved by counting before placing: every domino in the tray must go on the board, every coloured region carries a rule, and the rules plus the fixed pip total of the tray decide most placements before you drag anything. A number means the pips inside add up to it, = means all the same, ≠ all different, <7 a total under 7, >3 a total over 3. Beginners drag dominoes around until the badges stop going red. Solvers count first and drag second. These are the counts that matter, with figures from a year of Puzzlune's daily boards.

How do you start a Pips puzzle?

Add up the pips in the tray, then add up the sum targets, and subtract: the difference is exactly how many pips the cells outside the sum regions must absorb. On our boards sum regions cover about 62% of the cells on Easy and 56% on Hard, and they are 58–61% of all regions. If the leftover number is small, the blanks and ones go outside the sum regions; if it is large, the sixes do. This one subtraction solves more Easy boards than any other idea.

How do you solve the = regions in Pips?

With doubles: a two-cell = region that one domino can cover needs a double (3|3, 5|5), and there are only about 2.2 doubles in an Easy tray and 3.4 in a Hard one, so list them and ask which = region each could serve. A three-cell = region cannot be filled by a single domino: it needs a double plus a matching half of another domino, or three halves of three dominoes that all show the same number. Count how many halves in the tray show each number; a value that appears on only two halves cannot fill a three-cell = region at all. Equal regions are 39% of the regions on Easy and 24% on Hard, and on Hard they are the usual place to start, because they have the fewest options.

Where do the blank dominoes go in Pips?

Into the smallest sum regions: a blank half counts as zero, so a three-cell region that must add to 3 or a two-cell region that must add to 1 is telling you where the blanks go. There are only about 1.4 blank halves in an Easy tray and 3.1 in a Hard one. Pair every small target with the blanks that could reach it; usually one assignment survives. Large targets work the same way in reverse: a two-cell region adding to 11 or 12 needs a 6 and a 5 or two 6s, which is a very short list of dominoes.

Which domino placements are forced by the board shape?

Dead-end cells and odd corners: a domino covers two orthogonally adjacent cells, so a cell with only one free neighbour has only one way to be covered, and a region of three cells in an L cannot be covered by dominoes that stay inside it. Look for those first; each one fixes a domino's position before you have thought about any rule. The rule then tells you which domino, and which way round. On a 6×5 Hard board with 7.5 regions, two or three placements are forced by shape alone.

What do the <, > and ≠ regions mean in Pips?

They are bounds, not puzzles: <7 means the region's pips total less than 7, >3 more than 3, ≠ that every cell shows a different number. Comparison regions are about 16% of regions on Medium and Hard and almost never the key to the board. A <7 region with three cells is satisfied by any three halves totalling six or less; write the maximum you can afford next to it and move on. A ≠ region matters only when it is big: four cells all different means four different numbers from the halves you have left, which can rule out a double sitting across it.

What do the red and gold badges mean in Pips?

Gold means the region is satisfied; red means it can no longer be, however you fill the rest. Every badge shows its running count as you place. Red is information, not failure: it names the region you broke, so undo one move and try the other orientation. A board with every badge gold is solved, and the arrangement is almost always the unique one, since every daily board is checked for a single solution before it is served.

Should you play Easy, Medium or Hard Pips first?

Easy first, even if you only want the Hard one: Easy (3.7 regions on average) and Medium (4.7) are the same board logic as Hard (7.5) with fewer regions, and the counting habits from a two-minute Easy carry straight into the Hard. Hints are three per board and work the same way the badges do: if your board cannot be finished from where it is, the hint shakes the dominoes blocking it and sends them back; otherwise it places one correct domino.

Pips daily, Pips practice or the Pips archive: which should you play?

Play the daily when you have five minutes, practice when you want to get better, the archive when you want a worked example. The daily. Three boards, Easy to Hard, the same for everyone. It is the only mode that counts for your streak, and the one to share.

Endless practice. Thousands of boards in the difficulty you pick, served in order so you can race a friend on the same number. Nothing you do there spoils the daily.

The archive. Every past day's three boards, with every region's rule explained and each domino's place. Every page has the full solution, so it doubles as a worked example when a technique from the strategy above hasn't clicked yet.

Pips FAQ

What is Pips?

Pips is a domino logic puzzle. You get a board divided into coloured regions and a set of dominoes. Place every domino so that each region's rule is met: regions with a number must add up to it, "=" means every pip count in the region is the same, "≠" means they are all different, and "<" or ">" compare the region's total to a number.

Is this the official NYT Pips?

No. Pips is a game by The New York Times, where one puzzle a day is free and the archive needs a subscription. Puzzlune's Pips uses puzzles we generate ourselves, with the same rules, and is free: three puzzles a day, unlimited mode and a playable archive. We are not affiliated with The New York Times.

How many puzzles are there each day?

Three: Easy (5 dominoes), Medium (7) and Hard (10), at midnight in your local time zone. Solve all three to keep your streak.

Is it Pips or Pip, and is this the NYT domino game?

The game is called Pips, after the dots on a domino; pip unlimited, pisp and pips nyt free are common ways people search for it. The New York Times publishes the original, one puzzle a day with the archive behind a subscription. Puzzlune Pips is a free version with its own boards: three a day, unlimited mode and a full archive.

Do I need an account?

No. Progress, streak and stats are stored in your browser.

What do hints do?

You get three per puzzle. If your board can't be finished from where it is, a hint marks the dominoes that block it and sends them back to the tray. Otherwise it places one correct domino for you.