Domino is a game that requires skill. A domino’s effect is similar to a nerve impulse firing in your body. However, the difference is that the effect spreads outward and cannot be retracted.
Some games allow players to “buy” tiles from the stock. This is done by counting the pips on the tiles in the losing player’s hand at the end of the hand or game and adding them to the winner’s score.
Origins
The history of domino is not entirely clear. It may have originated in China in the 12th or 13th century, and then made its way to Europe. One theory is that the European version was first introduced to Italy, possibly in Venice and Naples, in the 18th Century.
The modern set of twenty-eight domino pieces was developed in the mid-18th Century in Italy and France. Its dark markings on white faces resembled the hoods of masks worn at masquerade balls, giving the game its name.
When a domino is tipped over, it causes the rest to topple over. This is the basis of the idiom domino effect, which is used to describe any situation in which one small trigger leads to much larger consequences.
Rules
Many different domino games exist, with each having its own rules. Some of these differ from game to game, but they are largely similar. Each domino has a set number of spots, or “pips,” on one face and is blank or identically patterned on the other. The pips are arranged in a specific way, which determines the game’s rules.
Normally, the player with the highest double begins play. However, if no player has a double, the highest bone is chosen at random.
When a player places a tile, the two matching ends of the domino must touch. This creates a chain and scores points when the exposed ends total a multiple of five. When the chain reaches its end, the players add up their points to determine the winner.
Variations
There are many different domino games. Most games have the same basic rules, but some have slight variations in gameplay. For instance, some variants require players to draw a tile as their turn is up or to count the number of pips in the losing player’s hand at the end of the game and add that to their score.
Other variations include the Mexican Train variant where players continue to build up a train by adding tiles with matching values at either end (i.e. one’s touch two’s, and so on). Then there are spinner dominoes where the first double is played at right angles to the rest of the line and new tiles are added to each of its open sides. Other variants delay the starting of a player’s turn or allow a player to pass.
Materials
Modern dominoes are made from a number of different materials. The most common are plastics, metals and wood. There are also specialty materials like foam for giant yard dominoes and urea for some domino mosaic projects. These are generally not sold in regular stores.
A domino is a thumb-sized rectangular block that has one side marked with numbers and the other blank or decorated with a design. The identity-bearing side of the piece is molded with an arrangement of dots or spots, called pips, that represent the numbers from one to six.
The 19th century saw the advent of Bakelite, which replaced tinplate as a material for domino manufacturing. Later, plastics derived from petroleum took over. This type of domino is less durable and is not as appealing to the eye.
Scoring
In some games, a player may be able to play only a single domino. If this happens, the game is won by the player who can subtract the value of their remaining dominos from the total value of all the opponent’s dominoes rounded to the nearest multiple of five.
a flat thumb-sized rectangular block, the face of which is divided into two parts and bearing from one to six pips or dots: 28 such pieces form a complete set. a game or variety of the game played with such a set, including those in which the ends of the dominos are scored by matching them up in lines and angular patterns.
A popular variation is the American two-player cross Dominoes game called Muggins and Five Up. This is a variant of the Fives family and is based on the concept of scoring for making the ends of the layout add up to certain totals, in this case multiples of three and five.