When playing domino, each player draws a hand of 7 tiles. The player who draws the heaviest tile makes the first play. The heaviest domino can either be a double or a single.
Depending on the rules, a double played as the lead may or may not be a spinner. This will affect the score of that game.
Origins
There are various legends surrounding the origin of domino. One story claims that it was invented by a Chinese general who created the game for his troops to keep them awake during night watches. Another account says that it was invented by a 12th-century figure called Keung T’ai Kung. These stories are probably more myth than fact, however.
Dominoes didn’t make their way to Europe until the 18th century, when they were first documented in Italy. They subsequently spread throughout Europe and reached England in the late 18th century, possibly brought over by French prisoners of war. The game became a popular pastime in English pubs and inns.
The word “domino” may come from the French term for a winter hood worn by Christian priests, which was black on the outside and white on the inside. It is also possible that the name is derived from the fact that domino tiles look like black dots on a white background.
Rules
Dominoes are a game with many variations, both common and uncommon. The most common are bidding games, blocking games, and scoring games. There are also several other rules that can change the game’s nature, such as counting one or both ends of a double (a 6-6 counts as six but not twelve).
After the dominoes are shuffled and arranged, each player draws seven dominoes from the stock. The player who draws the heaviest tile begins play. If there is a tie, it is broken by drawing new dominoes from the stock.
When players can’t make a play, the game is blocked and the winning player scores the value of all the opponents’ unseen dominoes. The winner may also agree to use another scoring method, such as counting the total number of pips on all the lost players’ tiles.
Variations
There are a wide variety of domino sets available. Some are made from cheap wood and can be used by children for fun. Others are made from high-quality materials and are considered works of art. Some sets are even carved into three-dimensional sections. These are more expensive than standard sets.
The rules of domino vary from one variant to the next. For example, in some games, the doubles serve as spinners, causing the line of play to branch. Other games, such as Chicken Foot and Matador, have unusual rules for matching. Bendomino uses curved tiles, so one side of the line of play may be blocked for geometrical reasons.
Players also have the option of marking a tile as private and stopping other players from adding to it. However, if the marker is knocked off and you cannot add a new tile to your train, you must draw from the boneyard until you find a playable tile.
Materials
Dominoes are small rectangular pieces that can be made of many different materials. Over the centuries, they have been carved from wood, bone, ivory, and clay. Each domino has a face that bears a pattern of dots, or pips, and a back that is blank or decorated. Each domino is usually twice as long as it is wide. The pips on the domino indicate its value, from six to zero, by their arrangement and color.
Most domino sets come with a storage box, which range from cardboard to vinyl snap lock cases. Special felt tables are also available for playing on, and help keep the dominoes from scratching the table surface. This classic game provides hours of fun and helps develop children’s core maths skills, as they learn to count, match, sort and classify.
Scoring
In some domino games, the score is calculated from counting the ends of a line of play. These end points may be referred to as spinners or doubles. Depending on the game, these may be disregarded from the count if they are not a valid match for any other domino in the line of play.
In most scoring domino games, players accrue points as they move and play their tiles. The winner of a round earns additional points based on the value of their opponents’ hands.
The number of points earned by a player can vary, depending on how many rounds are played and the number of other players in the hand. Some games are not scored at all if nobody can advance, in which case the lightest hand wins the round.
