Domino is a game played with a set of small rectangular wood or plastic blocks, each marked by dots resembling those on dice. The most basic set contains 28 tiles. Each player draws seven from the stock and places them on-edge in front of him so that he can see his own tiles but others cannot. Players then play off the tops of their tiles to form a line that is called the layout, string or line of play.
The earliest use of the word domino is not clear, although it may have been used to refer to a long hooded robe worn together with a mask at a masquerade or carnival. The domino piece itself was first recorded in the mid-18th century. It is believed to have been made of ebony blacks with ivory faces.
A wide variety of games are played with domino, but blocking and scoring are prominent. These are often games of skill, and they can be very competitive. Other games are of a social nature and can be enjoyed in groups or in pairs. A number of games are adaptations of card games. They were popular in areas where religious proscriptions prohibited the use of cards.
In most domino games, a winner is determined by counting the pips on the losing players’ tiles left in their hands at the end of a hand or game. Sometimes, however, a player may wish to count the pips on only one side of a double (for example, 4-4 counts as only four). This is known as counting byes.
There are also some domino games where scoring is based on the total of all sides of all played doubles. This is called the ninja strategy, and it is possible to win by obtaining this score.
Seating arrangements for the game are usually determined by lot after the dominoes have been shuffled. The player drawing the tile with the greatest number of pips has the right to choose the position of his partner and the other players. Ties are broken by drawing new hands or by buying tiles from the stock (see “Passing and Byeing” below).
A player may make more than one play in a turn, but the player must be careful to ensure that his plays are legal according to the rules of the game. If he makes an illegal play, his opponent can reclaim the domino and win the round. A domino is said to be a dead double if it has two identical ends or forms a multiple of some specified number such as five. A double that is not a dead double but has identical ends is called a spinner and is treated differently than a regular double.