Dominoes are a family of tile-based games. The rectangular tiles each have two square ends, marked with a number of spots. Players take turns matching up tiles to form a pattern. Players must make matches of at least three tiles in a row. The first player to make a line is the winner.
There are four standard sizes of dominoes. Each set has a different number of tiles. A set for two players has twelve tiles. A set for five players will have fifteen tiles. A set for twelve players has sixteen tiles. A set of twelve tiles is called a double. There are also several newer and more popular party games that can be played with a larger set. Most of these games are flexible enough to fit the size of the playing surface.
Western dominoes were first recorded in the mid-18th century in France and Italy. French prisoners brought the game to England, where it was later introduced. Today, dominoes are mostly played as positional games, in which players place dominoes edge-to-edge against each other. The objective of the game is to match up as many tiles as possible without losing the game.
There are many variations of domino. Some are based on traditional card games and are similar in nature. However, some have their own unique twists. For instance, a game called Concentration uses a double-six set, requiring players to accumulate a total pip count of 12 to win.
Dominoes were brought to England in the late eighteenth century by French prisoners of war. By the 1860s, dominoes had become a popular game in France. France even started producing puzzles based on dominoes. These puzzles were mostly made of two types of tiles: one in which the players must match the same number of tiles, and one that involves using the arithmetic properties of the pips.
The first player to play a domino is known as the “setter”. This is the first domino played in the game. The player is then allowed to play any other domino in the hand. The player who plays a tile with the same number on both ends of the chain is said to have “stitched up” the end of the domino.
In a game of skillful dominoes, players compete to reach a predetermined number of points, usually 61. The game is played in pairs or fours, with each player having a hand of dominoes. A match is considered a win if the player has the higher total. Before the game starts, the players must agree on the target number of points. The player who hits the maximum number of points wins the game.
Similarly, nerve cells and neurons can be studied using dominoes. When one domino is removed, the other dominos in the set will fall, starting a chain reaction. This is a similar effect that happens in a severe injury to the nerve or spinal cord. In such a case, a nerve impulse is blocked before it can propagate.