I’m an indie developer learning Next.js and a big fan of the NYT game Pips. Inspired by it, I built https://pipsgamer.com — a responsive web version of Pips with smooth gameplay on both desktop and mobile.
What makes this project different from NYT’s version is that you can play it infinitely under three difficulty levels: Easy / Medium / Hard.
This is the first time I’ve built a game. Along the way I ran into many difficulties: implementing the game logic, configuring the UI, matching layouts for small and large screens, etc. I spent many lonely nights and sometimes even doubted whether I could complete the whole project. After 24 days of persistent effort, the project is finally finished.
No signup required — just go and play. If you try it out I’d really appreciate your feedback: what you like, what bugs you see, what could be improved.
Thanks!
I'd be happy with a "highlight dominoes" picker. Ticking zero would highlight the dominoes with zero, then you could also tick four, and you'd be left with only pieces that satisfy both.
Ideally it highlights matches in the tray and on the playing field.
Pips is easily my new favorite NYT game apart from the daily (full) Crossword. Forces me to use my brain in a way the other games don't. Would love to be able to play this more than once a day.
Extremely minor nit: in the "how to play" example, on the far right, the rule is ">5" but the domino has a 1 and a 4. HTH
I've sure this was a typo, but it gave me a chuckle. Like, "thanks, now fix it!"
And I know making games is difficult, but 1. games are a really significant portion of their subscription income, 2. there's obviously a lot of talent working at the Times (looking at their data vis stuff for example) 3. these games are (deliberately) simple, so why not iterate a bit more on making the few moving parts feel good?
Like, I think there's competent developers working at the Times. And building a pleasant, robust version of these simple games for one of the most prestigious employers in the world seems like it would be a really interesting and stimulating job. So I'd expect better results.
Also: I think this looks great and that your version is actually a bit nicer to use. Well done!
Spelling Bee UX got noticeably worse when they switched it. Little things, like if you switch in and out of the app (say, using the official hints page), it ignores your first tap now.
Example, I'll type "HYPER" and end up with "HHPEE".