Domino is a game in which players compete to build chains of dominoes that eventually topple. The game has been around for more than a century, and variations on the theme of domino are played by millions of people worldwide. It’s a game that relies on chance and skill, but it also requires strategic thinking.
A domino is a rectangular, double-sided tile marked with identifying marks on one side and blank or identically patterned on the other. The domino’s identifying marks are an arrangement of dots, or pips, similar to those on a die.
The word “domino” comes from the Latin domina, meaning “flip.” The word has since evolved to refer to any type of table game. Domino games can be simple or complex, with straight lines or curved ones, grids that form pictures when they fall, stacked walls, or even 3D structures like towers and pyramids. The game can be played alone or in teams, with one or more players.
In some games, players try to win by capturing all of the opposing player’s tiles. Depending on the game, this may be accomplished by placing all of the player’s dominoes in a line (known as a “chain”) or by covering the player’s opponent’s entire field of play with dominoes.
When playing with a standard set of dominoes, each player draws a hand of 12 or more tiles for their dominoes and the rest remain in the stock. Occasionally, a player draws more dominoes for his hand than he is entitled to; this is called an overdraw. The player must take the extra dominoes without looking at them and return them to the stock, reshuffling the deck before anyone else draws a hand.
If a player is unable to make a play, they may draw another domino from the stock and then make that domino the lead for their next play. This is known as the “set,” or “putting down.” Once the first domino is a set, it can be played to any other domino in the chain, except a double. A tile that is played to a double must be placed cross-ways across the end of the double and must touch all of its matching sides.
Many different materials are used to manufacture dominoes, including bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (“mother of pearl”), ivory, or a dark wood such as ebony; each has a unique look and feel. Some sets use a combination of two materials; for example, some have the upper half thickness in mother of pearl or ivory and the lower in ebony. The pips are traditionally black, although other color combinations have been used, and the numbers on the ends can be either white or colored to match the material. A few sets of dominoes use a combination of two colors to indicate a double. There are also several types of extended-size dominoes, which add three additional pips to the standard set. These larger dominoes are rarely used.