A domino is a small rectangular wood or plastic block with two double-sided faces; one bearing an arrangement of dots similar to those seen on dice, and the other blank or identically patterned. They’re typically twice as long as wide making stacking easy; sometimes called bones, cards, or men dominoes form part of popular games and serve as building blocks in multiple popular titles; their name also functions as verb for “play or set domino,” as well as symbolically meaning to influence an event, reaction, or outcome.
Dominoes can create an amazing domino effect when they are carefully lined up and then toppled by even the slightest touch, creating a dramatic domino effect that often features in domino shows, where builders compete to produce elaborate domino formations.
Domino is typically played between multiple players or teams and can be divided into four main categories: bidding games, blocking games, scoring games and round games. Each category also contains subcategories which differ in how wins or losses are decided upon.
In most domino games, one player wins by being the first to arrange all their tiles into a line on the table – known as a domino string or layout. His left-hand player then adds one tile at a time to this domino string or layout, creating another domino chain and building upon what was previously laid down like an exponential chain reaction that becomes stronger with every subsequent play.
As soon as a player puts down their final domino in the line of play, he or she must count the dots on opponents’ tiles and add that amount to his or her score – this serves to break ties and encourage winning players to continue aggressively playing – known as a counting method and it must include both halves of doubles (4-4 counts as only 4 points).
There are various varieties of domino sets, each of which has its own set of rules and scoring system. Most sets typically consist of 28 tiles; larger sets may contain more. Traditional domino tiles were made of bone, mother-of-pearl oyster shell (MOP), ivory or dark hardwood such as ebony; traditionally with black or white pips inlaid or painted on them contrasting against inlaid black/white lines on them. Polymer and synthetic materials have now become common materials used to produce domino sets.
The English term domino derives from its French equivalent: cape. This refers to a hooded cloak worn with a mask at carnival seasons or masquerades; later in 17th-century England it became used to mean any playing piece with an attractive design that stands out among its surrounding pips; eventually domino became synonymous with any such set of playing pieces.