Domino, also known as dominoes or dominations, is a small, flat rectangular block used to play games of chance and skill. It is typically made of wood or bone and has a number of pip marks on one side. Other names for the game include bone, pieces, men, and stones. The most common and basic form of Domino consists of twenty-eight tiles. The most basic game can be played by any number of players, and no special equipment is needed.
The first tile played in a Domino game is known as the set, down, or lead. It is the beginning of a line of dominoes which can then be added to by each player in turn. Each subsequent tile played must touch the end of the previous one. The chain continues to grow in length until it is complete and the end of the last tile shows a particular number that the player wishes to play.
When the first domino falls, it converts potential energy into kinetic energy, which then pushes the next domino until it, in turn, falls. This process is known as the Domino Effect and is a useful model for understanding how habits are formed. Once a new habit is formed, it can be difficult to break. To break a bad habit, it requires that you make a small commitment to a different behavior and then build on that small commitment in other areas of your life.
As a child, Lily Hevesh loved setting up dominoes in a straight or curved line and flicking them over to see the whole sequence fall one by one. This fascination turned into a hobby and later, she became a professional domino artist who creates mind-blowing setups for movies, TV shows, and events—including an album launch for pop star Katy Perry. Hevesh uses a version of the engineering-design process when creating her setups.
Some domino games allow ties to be broken by drawing new hands, while others specify that the winner of the last hand makes the first play. In either case, each player draws the number of tiles that are permitted for their hand according to the rules for the specific game being played. If a player draws more than the number they are allowed to take, they must return those extra tiles to the stock and have the deck reshuffled before anyone else draws.
Many Domino games involve a long line of tiles on the table that must be made to match the pips on their ends. These lines of tiles are referred to as the line of play. In some games, the heaviest tile determines who plays first. In other games, the highest double or the player holding the heaviest single begins play. If the line of play is blocked and no one can play, the game ends.