The New York Times released Pips in August 2025, a single player puzzle game that reimagines traditional dominoes. Players place tiles numbered from zero to six, matching values to clear the board in each daily puzzle. The game offers three difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, and Hard.
For players stuck on any difficulty on May 22, 2026, the game itself provides limited assistance. It only offers a hint system that reveals one correct tile placement, after which the player must continue solving manually. This constraint has led many users to seek external guides and walkthroughs.
Pips has become a popular daily habit for puzzle enthusiasts, joining the ranks of Wordle, Connections, and Strands in the NYT Games catalog. The game’s mechanics draw on classic domino logic but require strategic thinking to complete efficiently. Each puzzle presents a fresh set of tiles, ensuring no two days are identical.
For those who prefer solving independently, strategy tips include starting with tiles that have duplicate numbers, as they offer fewer placement options. Observing tile counts for each number can help predict which values will be hardest to clear. Advanced players often plan several moves ahead, much like in chess or sudoku.
The May 22, 2026 puzzle follows the standard format: a set number of tiles arranged in a specific pattern that changes daily. Solutions for all three difficulty levels are available from various online communities, though the NYT encourages players to solve unaided for the full experience.
As puzzle gaming continues to grow in popularity, daily games like Pips demonstrate the enduring appeal of logical challenge in short, accessible formats. The New York Times has not announced any plans to expand Pips with additional features or difficulty tiers as of this writing.
Players who complete all three difficulty levels for May 22, 2026 can look forward to the next day’s puzzle, which will be released at midnight Eastern Time. The game remains free to play for NYT Games subscribers, with a web and mobile app version available.
