Domino is a game that involves building chains of tiles. The game has many variations and can be used to create art, like straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures, or stacked walls.
The word domino originally denoted a hooded cloak worn with a mask at a masquerade. It later came to mean a type of monastic hood and then one of the domino pieces.
Origin
Domino is a mutant with probability-altering powers. She is a mercenary and a member of the X-Force team. She has been a mainstay character in the comics for more than 20 years. She has also had two limited self-titled series.
Domino was born Neena Thurman, one of the children of a government super soldier breeding program. She possesses mutant probability-altering powers, making her a highly valuable mercenary, weapons expert, and marksman. She is also a superb athlete and martial artist, as well as an accomplished linguist.
The domino game probably originated in Italy, possibly Venice and Naples, during the early 18th century. Then it moved to France where it became a popular cafe game. There are many games of this type, but the simplest is to match ends of chains of tiles showing numbers, such as totals of lines and tile halves.
Rules
Players take turns placing dominoes on the table, joining them to each other when their numbers match. The chains develop into a snake-line shape as the game progresses. Depending on the rules of a particular game, some dominoes are “spinners,” which can be played on all four sides.
The player who draws the heaviest double starts, although some players prefer to draw lots for the first turn. Players may also choose to buy (see Passing and Byeing below) tiles from the stock to increase their hand size.
If a player cannot make another play, the game is blocked and a score is determined based on the number of dots in the opponents’ hands. This score is added to the winning player’s total. The winner is awarded one point for every multiple of five in the opponents’ hands.
Variations
Many different games can be played with dominoes. The basic instructions here apply to most games that use standard Western dominoes. These are usually arranged in a line with each player taking it in turn to place a single domino edge to edge against another such that the pips on both ends match (or, in the case of a double, form some specified total).
Each standard non-double domino has two matching ends – one larger than the other. The difference between these is always a multiple of five and can be calculated by subtracting the smaller end from the bigger.
The winner of the previous hand starts the new hand. The players can also choose to rotate who starts the new hand, or choose the highest pips as the starting point for each hand.
Materials
Dominoes are made from a variety of materials. Most are molded or drilled out of bone and painted with either white or black dots, called pips. The value of a domino is determined by the number of pips on one side and the absence of pips on the other.
Early domino sets were made from animal bones, but craftsmen began to use a type of vegetable ivory known as tagua nut to avoid the risk of animal cruelty. This material was later replaced by a type of wood called ebony, which is still used in some sets today.
A good quality domino set will come with a box for storage. These boxes vary from cardboard to the more common vinyl snap lock cases. Some have a felt surface to protect the backs and faces of the dominoes.
Scoring
The scoring system for domino can vary, depending on the game. Some games count points each time a domino is played, while others only score at the end of each hand.
For example, in Muggins the players must play dominoes so that their exposed ends total a multiple of five. This includes the exposed ends of a spinner (doubles that can be played on both sides).
In other games, such as Hector’s Rules, a double is only scored if it is a spinner. The rest of the exposed ends are ignored for scoring purposes. The first player to lay a double that can be played on all four sides scores an additional six points. This scoring system makes the game more challenging, as players must think strategically about their turns to increase their chances of winning.
