Domino is a collection of unique tile-based table games played using domino tiles. Each domino is simply a square tile with a central line dividing it into two equally sized square ends. Each end of each tile is either blank or marked with certain numbers. The object of domino playing is to accumulate as many domino sets (even more than the number of tiles that are in play) as possible and to reach the finishing tile.
Dominoes can be played with two, four or six players. In multi-player dominoes each player will take turns alternately pulling a tile from the center of the domino chain and placing it onto another player’s tile at any adjacent tile. dominoes are played in two steps: laying the domino chain out and then placing the winning tile on that chain. There is no receiving or counting points in this step.
For many beginners it is helpful to start with an eight-level domino set. As the beginner you can start by using basic, lower-level domino sets until you feel confident enough to handle more challenging sets. For each subsequent level of domino sets the height of the domino pieces increases. At level ten there is also a double-six piece domino set that requires two people to complete. The goal is to reach level thirteen before the last domino set in your stack falls.
In most cases (unless you are using a multi-player set) dominoes are won by scoring the maximum amount of points: three for each matching open spot on each face of the domino. Some domino sets have extra “spots” where a single domino may place two or more open spots. If this is the case, you must remove that specific domino from play and replace it with another card.
There are many different types of domino sets. Most include only the basic sets and all of the basic dominoes are either played singly or in pairs. There are seven types of played fichas in the standard game of dominoing. These are the traditional fichas of Spanish football: the tre, quinazo, fico, sicario, tenora, pancho and tenuta. In American football the commonly played triangulos are also called fichas. The names of the seven types of played fichas may be difficult to pronounce for many beginner players.
Domino tile set sizes vary from four to five tiles. It is important to know how many turns each player has to complete before the next domino is flipped over. Most beginner games have a short turnaround time. Some professional domino players turn over the tile set in seven or eight turns. Domino tile sets can be purchased pre-molded and are often available with instructions on how to assemble them.