Domino is a game of matching identically patterned tiles that have value indicated by a number of dots or pips on each face. Each domino is normally twice as long as it is wide.
Hevesh has been building domino arrangements since she was 9. Her designs can include straight or curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall and 3-D structures like towers or pyramids.
Rules
Domino has a special ability that allows her to manipulate probabilities, which often gives her the benefit of good luck. This can vary from having an enemy’s equipment malfunction to hitting just the right button to shut down an overloading machine. She also uses this ability as a mercenary, joining her skills with mutant soldiers and heroes like Cable to fight for mutant rights and a larger cause.
When players make a play, they must match the pips on one of their dominoes with those on the other player’s tile. Depending on the game being played, these tiles may be called a set, a down, or the lead.
Several ways are used to determine who will make the first play, including drawing lots, using a specific number or letter, or having the winner of the previous game open the next. Alternatively, the player holding the heaviest double begins play. In some games, the entire deck is shuffled and then drawn by each player for their hand.
Materials
Dominoes are small, flat blocks of rigid material, typically wood or plastic. They have a face that’s marked with an arrangement of dots, commonly called “pips,” and a back that’s blank or identically patterned. Dominoes are also available in a variety of colors.
Traditionally, dominoes have been made from animal bones, particularly sheep and cow bones. Prisoners-of-war made them to supplement their meager rations, and sailors used them to pass time during long voyages.
Aside from being a popular game, Domino is also educational. It can help develop core maths skills because of the numeric patterns that are involved in building a set. In addition, it’s great for hand-eye coordination. Players need precise hand movements to move and stack the tiles. It’s also a great way to practice pattern recognition and artistic expression. Most children enjoy the challenge of building large sets. It’s also a fun way for kids to learn the concept of number order.
Variations
There are many variations of domino games. Some are block or scoring games, while others involve strategy and other types of play. Most of these games depend on the number of dots on a domino tile and their positions. For example, a traditional domino set has seven unique pieces with spots from one to six. Some have blank ends, while others have a combination of both blank and pips like those on dice.
The game of Mexican train, for instance, is a connecting-style game that requires players to form chains. This is done by adding tiles to a layout and allowing new dominoes to connect with adjacent ones. The first player to add a tile to an open end of the chain scores. The player who reaches an agreed-on number of points wins the game. Other games include a variation of concentration that uses a double-six set and counts both the pips and the blanks as points.
Scoring
Domino used her techno-disrupting powers to disable a prototype combat droid codenamed Jericho during a mission. This droid was being neurologically controlled by rogue CIA agent Ekatarina Gryaznova. When a resultant feedback left her comatose, Domino went freelance. She joined the Wild Pack (later renamed the Six Pack) and later teamed up with mutant soldier Cable.
In most domino games, a player scores points by forming chains of dominoes that touch each other and end with the exposed ends of two doubles. Each domino has a value based on the number of dots or pips on its ends. If the exposed ends of a pair of doubles total any multiple of five, that number is added to the dominoing player’s score.
The first double played in the chain is called a spinner. The other doubles may be added to the chain from either of its sides. In some games the exposed side of a double is counted for scoring purposes, while others only count the visible part of the double.
