Domino (pronounced domino) is an Italian word for “falling.” The word has come to describe the cascading effects of a sequence of events, especially when those events are caused by one person’s actions. For example, if your soccer team wins against their biggest rivals and goes on to the state playoffs, it can create a domino effect of goodwill within the community. The term can also refer to the figurative effect that occurs when one domino topples another, as when someone sets up a row of dominoes and then knocks over the first one.
The earliest use of the word in print was in an 1883 newspaper editorial, referring to a political event that led to a chain reaction of subsequent events. By the mid-century, the term had become popular in fiction and nonfiction to refer to any situation that leads to a greater effect than would have occurred without it. In fiction, the domino effect can be seen in a plot line that builds up from a small scene into an exciting climax. In nonfiction, the domino effect may be used to describe a series of actions that lead to a certain outcome, such as an earthquake, hurricane, or war.
When Lily Hevesh, a professional domino artist, designs her mind-blowing setups, she follows a version of the engineering-design process. She starts with a theme or purpose for the installation, brainstorms images or words she might want to use, and then decides how she’ll arrange the dominoes. Depending on the design, she might plan out straight or curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, stacked walls, 3D structures such as towers and pyramids, or a snake-line that develops across the floor.
As Hevesh puts it, the most important aspect of a domino design is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The way she builds a domino chain is key to its success. She places the tiles so that their matching ends are adjacent, unless they’re doubles, which must be placed cross-ways to each other.
Each domino has potential energy, which it stores in its upright position. When Hevesh flicks a domino, that potential energy converts to kinetic energy, which provides the push to knock over the next domino. That energy travels to the next domino, which then transmits it to the next, and so on.
Domino’s CEO David Brandon and successor Dan Doyle have worked to maintain the company’s core values, including the value of listening to customers. To that end, they’ve implemented a more relaxed dress code and leadership training programs and are experimenting with delivery by drones and robots.
The most popular type of domino play is layout games, which include blocking and scoring games. Generally, players choose dominoes from the boneyard until they find one that matches the value of the tile they’re playing. Once they do, they must place it – with care, since any misplaced domino can cause a cascade of errors. Most domino games are played with a set of 28 double-six or double-nine tiles, although larger sets exist for more players and for longer layout games.