Pips2 rules

How to Play Pips2

Fill the board with every domino and make all colored-region clues true at the same time. There is no move limit, so you can keep adjusting the board until every condition is satisfied.

Start a Pips2 puzzle

The Goal

Each puzzle gives you a shaped board and a rack of dominoes. Place every domino on the board exactly once. Both halves of each domino occupy one cell, and no two dominoes can overlap.

The board is divided into colored regions. A domino may cross from one region into another, so each move can affect more than one clue. You finish the puzzle only when the board is full and every region rule is true.

Colored-Region Clues

Read the symbol shown with each colored region, then check all pip values contained inside that region.

Target sum

The pip values inside the region must add up to the displayed number.

Equal values

Every pip value inside the region must be the same.

Different values

Every pip value inside the region must be different from the others.

Greater than

The pip values inside the region must add up to more than the displayed number.

Less than

The pip values inside the region must add up to less than the displayed number.

No extra condition

The region has no clue of its own, but its cells still need to be filled by dominoes.

A Simple Solving Order

Start with small regions and exact target sums because they usually have fewer possible values.
Use equal and different-value regions to eliminate domino placements that cannot work.
Check clues that overlap the same domino before committing to a placement.
Use greater-than and less-than clues to rule out totals that are already too high or too low.
When the rack is empty, review every colored region and adjust any placement that breaks a clue.

Game Controls

Place: Drag a domino from the rack onto two open board cells.
Clear: Return placed dominoes to the rack and try a different arrangement.
Reveal: Open the completed layout when you want to compare the full solution.
Next: Load another puzzle in unlimited play without waiting for a new day.

Completing a Puzzle

Pips2 checks the whole board after every domino has been placed. If every clue is satisfied, the result screen records your solve. If a condition is still wrong, keep rearranging the dominoes and try again.

You can choose Easy, Medium, or Hard, practice with unlimited generated puzzles, or play the fixed Pips2 Daily challenge.