Domino, the cousin of playing cards, offers a wealth of games and challenges to both children and adults. From professional domino competition to setting up a spectacular display of the tiles, this simple toy requires patience and skill.
The markings on a domino, called pips, originally represented the results of throwing two six-sided dice. A domino with no pips is blank. The typical European domino set consists of 28 dominoes, with the remainder blank. The Chinese version of the game incorporates seven extra dominoes.
A domino is a square, rectangular, or triangular piece of wood or another material with a flat surface and one or more rows of pips (spots). Most dominoes have a smooth, glossy finish and are crafted in such a way as to be attractive and easy to grip. Some are colored, and many are decorated with elaborate designs. Some even feature the images of animals, people, buildings, and landscapes.
When a player plays a domino, the other players must follow with a tile that shows at least one matching end to the previously played domino, forming a chain of dominoes. Often, the players must position the new tile at a right angle to the previous domino. The resulting chain of dominoes, which may take the shape of a snake-line, develops according to the whims of the players.
Hevesh, a domino artist, is known for her incredible creations that involve thousands of dominoes. Her pieces can be so complex that they are sometimes a nail-biting minute to watch fall. Hevesh has worked on projects involving as many as 300,000 dominoes, and she once helped to set the Guinness World Record for the most dominoes toppled in a circular arrangement. She says that the secret to her success is physics, specifically gravity. “When the first domino is laid and pushed to its tipping point, it’s almost impossible to stop the domino effect,” she says.
Whether you’re a pantser who doesn’t make detailed outlines of your plot or a planner who uses software such as Scrivener to keep track of the scenes in your book, you’ll probably find that a single domino can change the course of the whole story. Just like the domino effect, it’s best to avoid any actions that could have a negative impact on your writing career.
One such domino effect was seen recently when a woman who couldn’t do arithmetic had her bank accounts frozen due to unpaid debts that could not be paid. Ultimately, the credit union she used to belong to was forced into merger with another bank. That move, in turn, caused financial dominoes to tumble down across the industry. This kind of domino effect can be very dangerous. It is possible that other banks will soon face similar problems, and the potential for a domino effect on our economy is real. This is why the federal government has established a new consumer protection agency to help prevent these effects.