Dominoes is a fun game that can be played solo or with friends. It’s also an excellent activity for kids and is great for teaching motor skills.
During a game of dominoes, each player plays a tile edge to edge. The tiles are then placed in a line on the table called a layout or string of play.
Rules
Domino is a game where players try to remove obstacles by playing all of their dominoes. The game is played with a set of 28 rectangular pieces that have a number on each side, ranging from zero to six.
Before the start of a hand or game, the dominoes must be shuffled. This is done so that no one can know where any of the pieces are.
Then, each player draws an equal number of dominoes and places them on the table. These are called “sleeping” dominoes and must not be seen by other players.
When a player plays, he adds the tile with the matching number of pips to one of the free ends on the table. Typically, the tiles are placed end to end in a row or line; however, this is not always the case.
In British public houses and social clubs, a scoring version of the game is played by attaching the first domino from one hand to one of the end tiles already on the table so that the sum of the ends is divisible by five or three. The player who makes this connection is awarded points.
Materials
The domino is a small, flat, rectangular tile made of a rigid material, such as wood or bone. It is commonly referred to as bones, pieces, men, cards or tiles and is typically twice as long as it is wide.
The number of pips (numbers on the ends) on a domino determines its rank or weight. The most common domino set, a double-six, has 28 pieces with six to 0 pips, while the larger sets have 58 or more tiles.
A domino is typically played by arranging the pieces in a semicircle on a table top in front of a player. Some players may use a tile rack, which is a bar of wood with a ridge and backstop cut into it to support a row of seven to nine tiles standing on end.
Various types of materials can be used for dominoes, including wood, plastics, and metal. The most common materials are urea and acrylic, which can be purchased at most stores.
Variations
The main goal of domino is to remove obstacles that prevent the player from progressing forward. These may include objects such as dice, electrical wire, fruit or other elements that hinder the character’s progress.
To play, each player begins by drawing the number of tiles specified in the rules for the game. The players then place the tiles in front of them so that the pips on them are hidden from other players.
Once the pips have been hidden, players must then place a tile onto the table, positioning it so that it is touching one end of the domino chain. Then, they must place a domino on top of the tile which extends the chain to a length which gradually grows as the game goes on.
A domino that is placed on a chain that has been extended to a length which is equal to a multiple of five scores points as the open ends add up to this multiple. The players then turn their tiles face up to count the pips on them, and the player with the lowest total wins the hand.
Scoring
The game of domino is played by laying dominoes end to end. Each tile must touch one another and if the dots on exposed ends total any multiple of five, that is a winning score.
Players start with the heaviest double, and play goes clockwise in a circular fashion. If there is a tie, the player with the last tile plays the first tile in the next round of play.
Some variations include a scoring system that takes the losing players’ total number of pips by counting the pips on the tiles left in their hands at the end of a hand or the game and adding that number to the winner’s score. This system does not lend itself well to a cribbage board or Holsey and Tidwell’s X’s, but is a fun variation nonetheless.
The winning player or team is awarded the prize for the game’s largest single score. This is usually a small wooden domino, but may be other material.