In a domino construction, you set up pieces that are connected end to end in a line. Then, when you tip the first piece ever-so-slightly, they all fall in a beautiful cascade of rhythmic motion. The word domino has been used to describe any action that falls like this, and also to refer to the underlying system that makes it all work. For example, when a writer writes a novel, the scene sequences are like dominoes arranged in order to form the narrative flow of the story. If a writer writes the scene sequences correctly, they’ll end up with a story that moves along with a similar rhythm and cadence as a falling dominoes chain.
Domino art can be simple or elaborate, from straight lines that run around the edge of the table to curved lines, grids that form pictures, and even 3D structures like towers and pyramids. Whatever you choose to create, the most important thing is that each track has a clearly defined purpose and direction. This way, when a domino is tapped with a pencil, the next tile will be ready to fall into place.
When a domino game is played with more than one player, the tiles are shuffled together to form a stock of tiles that each player draws from as they play. This stock of tiles is called the boneyard, and each player must draw seven dominoes from it as they play. When a player draws more tiles than they are permitted to have for their hand, the extra tiles should be drawn back into the stock and the boneyard reshuffled before the next turn.
The most basic domino sets contain 28 dominoes, which is the maximum number of possible ends (or “nodes”) in a double-six set. However, some games are played with larger sets that include more nodes and a higher total number of possible dominoes. These extended sets are usually labeled as double-nine, double-12, or double-18.
In most domino games, each player plays a tile in turn by placing it on the table with its open end touching an adjacent side of a previously placed domino. The open end of a domino may touch the node of any other domino in the line of play, or it can touch the node of a different domino in the same line. The resulting connection is called the line of play, string, or layout. In some games, the open end of a domino is called a “spinner,” and the tile must be spun to match a number on the other side of the line of play.
When a player has no more tiles for their hand and the other players are unable to make a play, the game is blocked. If this happens, the winning player must count the pips on all of the dominoes in the losing players’ hands at the end of their hands or the game and add them to their score.