Domino is a type of rectangular block with a line down the middle and an arrangement of pips or spots on one side. It is used for a variety of different games. It has various nicknames, including tiles, stones, tickets, men, and bones.
Typically, a domino has 28 tiles. These tiles are marked with the number, the suit, and the two groups of spots. Several different types of dominos exist, including the double-six, the double-nine, and the double-twelve sets. Some dominos have no pips or other markings.
The double-six set is used in most Western games, while the double-twelve is more commonly played in the United States and Asia. Both the double-six and the double-nine sets require nine tiles to start the game, and players usually choose to take fewer tiles initially. Traditionally, the pieces were made from ivory, bone, or wood. Some large domino sets use Arabic numerals instead of pips.
The domino effect is a series of linked events that are caused by a change in one area of a system. The change can have an immediate impact on other areas. The chain reaction can be caused by downsizing, mergers, or new technology.
Some domino games are played by stacking the tiles in long rows. However, in some variants, both partners must chip out the tiles. The player who makes the least total pips wins.
Most of the most popular domino games are scoring games. The goal is to score as many points as possible. If the player fails to make the points, the other players must chip out their pieces. The game can be played with just two players or with more than four players.
In addition to the domino-like games mentioned above, there are a few other popular domino games, such as trick-taking and layout. These games are all variations on the basic domino game. In these games, each player has a certain amount of dominoes, and then the player attempts to get as many points as they can.
Another common game is the Draw Game. Like the Block game, the purpose of the Draw Game is to get as many points as possible, but the player does not have to play the tiles in a row. The tiles are shuffled and the players take turns drawing from the set.
A variation on the Draw Game is the Concentration Game. In this variant, the players must have a total of 12 pips to win. This is in contrast to the original game, which has a smaller number of pips.
The domino has some very obscure origins. In fact, the word “domino” didn’t actually appear in the Dictionnaire de Trevoux until 1771. The word originally referred to a masquerade mask. It also was used to mean a long hooded cloak. Eventually, the term ‘domino’ came to be used for a type of crude paper-based woodcut. These crude woodcuts were popular among French peasants.
In the 1860s, dominoes appeared in a number of American literature texts. They were brought to England by French prisoners of war. They were then introduced to the rest of the world in the early 1890s.