Dominoes are a popular game that dates back to ancient China. They have been played in various parts of the world, including the US and Europe.
The game is played by laying down dominoes end to end, with the value on one half of each tile matched to that of the one at the other end. Depending on the rules, blanks may serve as wild cards or be considered a single tile with the value of zero.
Origin
Dominoes are a popular game that originated in China during the 12th century. They were also introduced to Europe around the 18th century.
In Europe, dominoes are usually played in positional games. In each game, players take turns playing a tile from their hand onto the table. The tile must be matched up with either half of a chain of tiles put down at the beginning of the game.
The game was first introduced into France during the 18th century. Its name reflects the French word “domino” which denotes a black hood worn by Christian priests during winter.
Rules
Domino is a tile game played by two or four players in partnership/teams or individually. It consists of 28 tiles, each with a line that divides them into two square ends and a number from none to six on each end.
The basic rules of dominoes are essentially the same for all games, with a few variations. The most common are the block game and the draw game.
Typically, the first player to make the first play will draw a domino from the stock. They then place their domino face up in the center of the playing area.
The next player then takes a turn placing a domino on the table laying it with a number showing at one of its ends or at the top of the chain. They may only play a domino that has both ends of the chain showing the same number, or they may “stitch up” the ends by playing a double.
Materials
Dominoes are small, flat rectangular game pieces that have been made from a variety of materials over the centuries. They are twice as long as they are wide, and are usually shaped so that they stand on edge without falling over.
Like playing cards, each tile has a face and a back. The face is divided into two square halves by a line across the center, and numbers are represented on each half by spots, or pips, or the absence of spots, which represents zero.
The most common domino set is the European style, which features a top half thickness of bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (MOP), ivory, or a dark hardwood such as ebony, with contrasting black or white pips (inlaid or painted). A few sets are made of other natural materials; these typically are heavier and feel more substantial than modern mass-produced polymer dominoes.
Variations
Dominoes are rectangular tiles marked with pips like those on a die. They are twice as long as they are wide and have a line in the middle dividing them into two squares.
A double-six domino has pips from 0 to 6 while a triple-nine has pips from 0 to 11. The number of pips on each side is the value of the tile.
The most common domino set is a double-six, which has 28 tiles. Other sets include double-nines and double-twelve, which have 55 and 91 tiles respectively.
A domino game may be either a blocking game or a scoring game. In blocking games the objective is to empty one’s hand while preventing an opponent from playing theirs.
Scoring
In domino, scoring is done by matching the exposed ends of the tiles. If the dots on these halves total a multiple of five, the player is awarded that number of points.
Some people also use a variant of 5s-and-3s in which one is scored for each time the sum of the end tiles is divisible by five or three. This strategy works well in games of cribbage where a large X is formed by combining two lines, or it can be used in a game using Holsey and Tidwell’s X’s on paper.
Besides this scoring system, there are many other strategies that players can use to improve their chances of winning a hand. Some of these include: