What is Domino?

domino

Domino is a game in which players arrange tiles edge to edge on the table. The tiles are marked with a number arrangement resembling those on dice.

Using domino will help your kids develop spatial awareness and color recognition. It will also sharpen their fine motor ability. Besides, it will encourage them to jump, summersault and more.

Rules

There are many different types of domino games. Each game has its own rules, but all have the same basic concept: Each player must play a tile on the table positioning it so that it touches one end of an existing chain that grows in length throughout the course of the round. This chain is called a train and can be private (personal) or public (Mexican).

The winner of the round is awarded points based on the value of opposing players’ dominoes that remain in their hands after all the tiles have been played. This number is usually rounded to the nearest multiple of five.

There are several ways to determine who starts the first hand. Some games use a draw to decide the starting player, while others have the player with the highest double begin play. If no player has a double, the winner of the previous hand may make the first play. Other rule variations include counting the number of pips on each of the losers’ dominoes (including doubles) at the end of a hand or game, instead of the value of their dominoes.

Materials

Throughout the centuries, domino sets have been made from a variety of materials, including wood, bone, silver lip oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory, and ebony. Each domino tile has a unique face, usually double-sided and bearing a set of spots, or pips, arranged in squares. Each spot corresponds to a number; the absence of spots represents a blank or zero.

Modern mass-produced dominos are typically made of plastics, metals and stone. They are generally twice as long as they are wide, and most come with painted pips.

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Variations

Dominoes are rectangular, flat pieces of wood or other material, twice as long as they are wide and marked with a line to divide them visually into two square ends, each bearing an arrangement of dots called spots or pips. Each domino has a value that is determined by its pips. A domino that has more pips is higher in rank, and a domino with no pips is lower in rank.

In most domino games, the players in turn place tiles on the table positioning them so that they touch one or other of the open ends of a developing chain. The number of matched ends determines how many points a player earns in the game.

There are several variations to classic domino gameplay. One variation allows players to count revealed tiles and those in their hand, allowing them to plan ahead. Another variation enables players to draw new hands when they cannot go. This can be especially helpful if the winner of the last game begins play.

Scoring

A game of domino usually consists of several “ends” with points scored in the ends accumulating towards a total. The winner of the hand is whoever has the most points at the end of the end. A running total score is often kept on a cribbage board or using Holsey and Tidwell’s X’s.

Generally the player with the lowest hand in each end is deemed to be out, and scores one point. In a two player game, the player who was out in the previous hand plays first. The remainder of the players draw tiles from their boneyard and play them crosswise against each other in a lengthwise fashion. The players may begin the chain by exposing the ends of the first double that has been played off (the spinner).

Each piece has a number on both sides, and the value is determined by counting the dots or pips. Each end of a piece must match the exposed ends of other pieces, so that one’s touch two’s and three’s touch four’s, for example.