Domino is a popular game played by two or more players. Traditionally, dominoes are made from dark hardwoods such as ebony or ivory. They are marked with an arrangement of spots, which helps to distinguish which dominoes are which. It is possible that dominoes may have been introduced to Europe from China in the early 14th century. However, the first recorded records of dominoes in Europe were in mid-18th century Italy and France.
In general, dominoes have a two-square layout with a line dividing the space into two squares. One of the squares is open, which is only open for play in domino games. The other square is the end of the chain. Doubles always have a cross-way across the end of the chain. Other tiles are blank, which means that the number on them is 0 or 14. Depending on the domino, doubles are either counted as one or two.
A domino is laid with one side perpendicular to the line at the center. If a tile has a number of pips on both sides, it is a “double.” Usually, the number of pips on the ends is the same as the number of pips on the face. But in some versions of dominoes, the number of pips on the sides is the same as the number of pips in the face.
Dominoes are generally shuffled before playing. Each player draws a domino from a set, then plays a tile. After playing a tile, the next player takes a turn drawing a domino from the set. Before the player begins to draw, the players must agree on a target score. Once they reach the target score, the winner wins the game.
To score, the player must lay one of their dominoes perpendicular to the line at the middle of the table. Their opponents do not have to do this. Rather, they must note which numbers are available for their partners. Whenever one of the opponent’s dominoes matches one of their own, the number of pips on that domino is awarded. Similarly, any domino with more than five pips is awarded a point.
Most scoring games are variations of the draw game. During the game, each player can accrue points by adding more tiles to a line. There are various rules about how a player can do this. Some of these include placing an extra tile on the long side of a double, or putting a tile in the middle of a line.
Players can also award a player with bonus play after a double. This occurs when a double is played on an opponent’s hand. For example, in the Concentration variant, a player needs to have a total of twelve pips before playing a double. On the other hand, in Hector’s Rules, a player can award a bonus play after a double.
Some domino games are played by teams of three. Other games are played by two players. Depending on the version of the game, the winners are the players who have the least spots on their dominoes.