page_title: Dominoes
section_title: Variations and game play
hierarchical_section_title: Dominoes / Rules / Variations and game play
caption_attribution_description: English: Score being kept by creating houses. The player at left has 75 points and the player at right has 115.
context_page_description: Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with rectangular "domino" tiles. Each domino is a rectangular tile with a line dividing its face into two square ends. Each end is marked with a number of spots or is blank. The backs of the dominoes in a set are indistinguishable, either blank or having some common design. The domino gaming pieces make up a domino set, sometimes called a deck or pack. The traditional Sino-European domino set consists of 28 dominoes, featuring all combinations of spot counts between zero and six. A domino set is a generic gaming device, similar to playing cards or dice, in that a variety of games can be played with a set.
  The earliest mention of dominoes is from Song dynasty China found in the text Former Events in Wulin by Zhou Mi. Modern dominoes first appeared in Italy during the 18th century, but how Chinese dominoes developed into the modern game is unknown. Italian missionaries in China may have brought the game to Europe.
  The name "domino" is most likely from the resemblance to a kind of carnival costume worn during the Venetian Carnival, often consisting of a black-hooded robe and a white mask.
context_section_description: For 40 years the game has been played by four people, with the winner being the first player to score 150 points, in multiples of five, by using 28 bones, using mathematical strategic defenses and explosive offense. At times, it has been played with pairs of partners. The double-six set is the preferred deck with the lowest denomination of game pieces, with 28 dominoes.
  In many versions of the game, the player with the highest double leads with that double, for example "double-six". If no one has it, the next-highest double is called: "double-five?", then "double-four?", etc. until the highest double in any of the players' hands is played. If no player has an "opening" double, the next heaviest domino in the highest suit is called - "six-five?", "six-four?". In some variants, players take turns picking dominoes from the stock until an opening double is picked and played. In other variants, the hand is reshuffled and each player picks seven dominoes. After the first hand, the winner (or winning team) of the previous hand is allowed to pick first and begins by playing any domino in his or her hand.
  Playing the first bone of a hand is sometimes called setting, leading, downing, or posing the first bone. Dominoes aficionados often call this procedure smacking down the bone. After each hand, bones are shuffled and each player draws the number of bones required, normally seven. Play proceeds clockwise. Players, in turn, must play a bone with an end that matches one of the open ends of the layouts.
  In some versions of the games, the pips or points on the end, and the section to be played next to it must add up to a given number. For example, in a double-six set, the "sum" would be six, requiring a blank to be played next to a six, an ace (one) next to a five, a deuce (two) next to a four, etc.
  The stock of bones left behind, if any, is called the bone yard, and the  bones therein are said to be sleeping. In draw games, players take part in the bone selection, typically drawing from the bone yard when they do not have a "match" in their hands.
  If a player inadvertently picks up and sees one or more extra dominoes, those dominoes become part of his or her hand.
  A player who can play a tile may be allowed to pass anyway. Passing can be signalled by tapping twice on the table or by saying "go" or "pass".
  Play continues until one of the players has played all the dominoes in his or her hand, calls "Out!", "I win", or "Domino!" and wins the hand, or until all players are blocked and no legal plays remain. This is sometimes referred to as locked down or sewed up. In a common version of the game, the next player after the block picks up all the dominoes in the bone yard as if trying to find a (nonexistent) match. If all the players are blocked, or locked out, the player with the lowest hand (pip count) wins. In team play, the team with the lowest individual hand wins. In the case of a tie, the first of tied players or the first team in the play rotation wins.
  In games where points accrue, the winning player scores a point for each pip on each bone still held by each opponent or the opposing team. If no player went out, the win is determined by the lightest hand, sometimes only the excess points held by opponents.
  A game is generally played to 100 points, the tally being kept on paper. In more common games, mainly urban rules, games are played to 150, 200, or 250 points.
  In some games, the tally is kept by creating houses, where the beginning of the house (the first 10 points) is a large +, the next 10 points are O, and scoring with a five is a /, and are placed in the four corners of the house. One house is equal to 50 points.
  In some versions, if a lock down occurs, the first person to call a lock-down gains the other players bones and adds the amount of the pips to his or her house. If a person who calls rocks after a call of lock-down or domino finds the number of pips a player called is incorrect, those points become his.
caption: Score being kept by houses: The player at left has 75 points and the player at right has 115 points.
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