Dominoes are a type of game board consisting of wooden tiles. They are played in positional games where the aim is to form a certain total.
The game originated in Italy and France during the 18th century. They are often played for entertainment or as a challenge to friends and relatives.
Origin
Dominoes are small, rectangular blocks used as gaming objects. They are often referred to as bones, men, tiles or cards and can be made of a variety of rigid materials including wood and plastic.
They have been in use since the 12th century and are believed to have originated in China (see Chinese dominos). However, some say they are derived from Egyptian or Arabian origins.
Regardless of the origin, the game is now played all over the world. It is particularly popular in Latin America where many people play it for fun and also to earn money from tournaments.
In the West, dominoes appeared in Europe during the 18th century and spread rapidly. They became one of the most popular games in family parlors and pubs during this period.
Rules
One of the most common games played in the world is domino. In this game, players draw tiles from a stock and play them against each other until either a player has played all his or her tiles or the player has won the game.
When a player can’t play a tile, they “knock.” This means they bang the edge of a domino on the table or tap it with their hand to signify that they are unable to make a move.
In a game of domino, a player can win by laying down tiles that match each other in number or suit. It’s important to keep a variety of suits in your hand so that you can always set down tiles that you think will be valuable for you.
Variations
The game of dominoes can be played with many different variations. These include games with a double-six set and variations that use multiple sets of tiles.
In the basic block or draw game, a stock of 28 tiles is set on the table and each player draws seven tiles from it. The tiles are then placed on edge in front of the players so that they can see their own tile, but not their opponents’.
Another version, called 5s and 3s, is similar to the block game but players compete for points. The goal is to play a domino so that the sum of the ends is divisible by five or three.
This variation is also known as the spinner or “spinner” game. The doubles serve as spinners, allowing the line of play to branch.
Materials
Dominoes are small, rectangular tiles that are used in many games. These can be made of different materials, including wood, bone, and plastic.
The earliest dominoes were made from animal bones or ivory. French prisoners-of-war carved cow and sheep bones into the shapes of tiles and sold them to sailors in the 18th century.
Craftsmen of the early 19th century replaced bone material with tagua nut, a close-grained and hard nut that is almost as valuable as ivory. Today, most dominoes are made of wood or common plastics such as bakelite, a type of plastic invented in 1917 that was popular until the 1950s.
Scoring
The game of domino is played with a set of a number of identically patterned or blank dominoes. Each domino is divided into two squares, called ends, by a line in the middle, and the numbers marking each end are referred to as “pips.”
In a positional game, each player in turn places a tile edge to edge against another to form an arranged chain of tiles which gradually increases in length. The end tiles must either show a matching number (e.g., 5 to 5) or form some specified total.
The goal of the game is to score points by laying all of the dominoes end to end. The exposed ends of the doubles are then counted, if the dots on the exposed ends equal any multiple of five.
