Domino is a game in which players place dominoes on the table, arranging them so that they are touching. Each domino has a number written on it, and the pips are aligned in pairs. Players then add tiles to the existing chain by matching the pips on their ends with those of other dominoes already on the table. This creates a line of play that gradually increases in length as each player makes his or her turn. When a player places a tile in this manner, it is said that he or she has “stitched up the ends.”
There are many different games of domino and a wide variety of ways to score them. The rules for some of these games differ somewhat from one area to another, but most of them follow the same basic guidelines. A winning player earns points by accumulating all the remaining pips on the losing players’ tiles and adding them to his or her own score.
In some games, the winner may choose to draw an extra hand instead of adding his or her points to the total of the loser’s scores. The extra hand may be added to the existing chain if it has the appropriate number of pips, or it can be used as the starting point for a new game. In either case, the player with the highest double takes first.
The game is played with a set of dominoes, usually a double-twelve or double-nine set. These are shuffled and form the boneyard, or stock. Each player draws a certain number of dominoes for his or her hand and places them in front of him or her so that the other players can’t see the pips on them. When a player draws more than his or her share, the excess is known as an overdraw. The player to his or her right must take the extra dominoes without looking at them, and they are returned to the stock for reshuffle before the next player draws his or her hand.
Dominoes are also often used as a tool for teaching children the basics of counting and adding. When a child plays with a set, he or she must learn how to count the pips on the various tiles and then match those pips to those on the existing domino chain.
This article focuses on the most common and well-known game of domino, which is typically played by two or more players. There are, however, a few one-player games of domino as well. These require a larger, more complicated set of dominoes and have more complex scoring methods.
When writing fiction, dominoes can be used as a way of showing how a story unfolds. In a typical narrative, the action begins with a single domino, which knocks over a series of other dominoes, each causing more and more effects. Ultimately, the narrative culminates in a climax that demonstrates how the domino effect works.