Show HN: A web version of Pips game (NYT domino game) (pipsgamer.com)
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!
9 comments
[ 76.9 ms ] story [ 171 ms ] threadExtremely 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
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!