Domino is a game of sliding tiles, where players try to form lines or chains of tiles that add up to a specific total. The most common games are blocking and scoring, but many different variations exist.
Domino games are played in a wide variety of settings and countries, from children’s birthday parties to corporate meetings to professional sports events. They are also popular with people who want to play for fun and relaxation, or with friends or family.
A domino is a tile with a number or other symbol on one side, and a blank or “wild” side. The numbers on the side that is numbered show whether or not the tile is worth something (e.g., a double is worth two points). The blank or wild side may not have a number on it and is used only for placing a tile on the table without any other number showing at either end.
Dominoes are made from ceramic, porcelain or metal. They are usually made in sets of a certain number, and they vary in length, width and thickness. They are often extended in size by adding more pips, or spots, on the ends of each tile. The most common sets are double six (with 28 tiles) and double nine (with 55 tiles).
There are many ways to play dominoes, and most involve the same basic rules: lay a tile down on the table that matches the number of the current end of the line or chain. Then, the other players in turn place their own tiles edge to edge so that they too match that number or chain.
If the number of the next tile to be laid down is lower than the previous, a player can place that tile onto a sleeping domino and take it as an extra, which will allow them to move up a chain without having to place another tile. The first player to do this wins the round.
Once the initial set is finished, a new set of dominoes can be made by removing all the blank or wild tiles and replacing them with a matching number of the same type. Then, the game can be played again.
The number of dominoes needed to win a game can vary by the rules of the game and the size of the playing area. For example, a standard set of 28 tiles is sufficient for most games with two players, but more than eight players will need more than that.
Some games require that each player take a different number of dominoes from the start, while others have a fixed starting point, such as seven. For a fixed starting point, a player cannot have more than seven dominoes in their hand at the start of the game.
A player can add more than seven dominoes to their hand during the course of a single round by laying down a new tile and taking a sleeping domino, which will allow them to move up the line and score points. They can also play more than seven tiles during a single turn by playing a tile that has no number on it, which can be matched only with other tiles that have no numbers on them.