Domino is the term for a set of wooden or plastic tiles with a number of spots inlaid on one side. The tiles are normally rectangular, though there are square and round versions as well. In addition to being used for game play, domino is often employed in education to teach basic math skills. There are several types of domino games, including scoring ones such as bergen and muggins, and blocking games like Mexican train or chicken foot. The player who wins the most rounds in a given amount of time is declared the winner.
When a single domino is knocked over, it causes a chain reaction that brings the rest of the dominoes to topple as well. This sequence of action is often referred to as the Domino Effect. In writing, the domino effect can be useful for creating scenes that progress in a rhythmic way.
The first step in the process of setting up a domino chain is to place the starting tile. This is called “setting” or “leading.” When a domino has been laid, the open ends are then matched with another domino. The matching ends may be adjacent to each other, or a double domino is placed cross-ways in the layout, straddling the end of the tile it is connected to.
Next, the opening domino is “played.” Then, subsequent tiles are played onto the open ends of the initial tile in order to develop a snake-line domino chain. The length of the chain, as well as its shape, is determined by the rules of the particular game being played. The ‘pips’ on a domino are also determined by the rules of the game, with some pips counting as more than others (for example, a six-six domino counts as twelve), while other pips are counted only once or twice (for instance, a double-blank is either 0 or 14).
This process continues until all of the ‘bones’ have been played. Then the winning players are declared and the next hand begins. Some game rules allow a player to begin by playing any bone in his or her hand, while others require that the winner of the previous hand “chips out” before beginning play.
In the world of domino art, a skilled artist can create some truly stunning displays. In fact, one such artist is Hevesh who claims that the main physical phenomenon that allows her to pull off her incredible designs is gravity. When a domino is standing upright, it has potential energy, and when the domino is knocked over, much of this energy converts to kinetic energy as the domino crashes down on the pieces below it.
Hevesh has worked on projects involving more than 300,000 dominoes and she holds a Guinness record for the most dominoes toppled in a circular arrangement. She works with a team of artists and engineers who help her create the domino sculptures, and her largest setups can take up to several nail-biting minutes for each domino to fall.