A domino is a small rectangular block marked with two groups of spots, or pips, on one side. It is used to play a variety of games with the goal of making them fall in a certain order. The word comes from the Latin domina, meaning “favour or advantage.” When you see a line of hundreds or thousands of dominoes set up in careful sequence, and then all falling with the simple nudge of just one, you can bet that the builders have practiced and planned their moves for a long time.
Domino is a fun and entertaining game that can be played by children and adults. It can help them develop their motor skills, coordination, concentration and memory. It can also help them improve their social and emotional skills by developing trust and cooperation. There are many different games to choose from, such as straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, or stacked walls. They can even create 3D structures like towers and pyramids.
Whether you’re an off-the-cuff writer or a plotter who meticulously works out the entire arc of your story, writing a novel is a lot like setting up a giant set of dominoes. You start by creating a situation or conflict that will cause the dominoes to crash into each other, then carefully consider how each domino will react and what will happen next. It’s a lot of work—but when done well, it can make for a truly compelling story.
When a domino is flipped over, much of its potential energy converts to kinetic energy, the energy of motion (see Converting Energy). Some of that energy is transmitted to the next domino, providing the push it needs to topple over. The process continues until the last domino falls.
There are countless ways to play domino, with the most popular being bidding games, blocking games, and scoring games. However, all of these different games have the same basic rules: The heaviest domino begins play, and any player may call the heaviest double or single in turn if they hold one.
When playing a domino game, the tiles are kept in a pile or stack that’s called a boneyard or stock. They are shuffled together and then drawn in the order specified by the rules of the particular game being played. Typically, the winner of the previous game will make the first move. However, some games allow players to draw lots or select the heaviest tile by hand to begin play.