Domino is an open source, Java-based platform that delivers a single, self-service application for managing your entire infrastructure and applications. Domino is available as a fully-managed cloud service or on-premises.
Domino is a game played with a set of dominoes—flat thumb-sized blocks that are either blank or bear from one to six pips, or dots, which indicate spots on the back of a playing tile. Dominoes are usually placed in a line or an angular pattern, with each player taking turns adding a domino to the line of play by matching the pips on its end to those of the previous tile added and continuing until all players have made their plays. In most games, the first player to complete a row or an angular pattern wins.
There are many different games that can be played with dominoes, and the rules of each game vary by locale and culture. Some of the most popular are block and scoring games, such as poker and draw and pass, and others are trick-taking games, which were used in certain areas to circumvent religious proscriptions against playing cards.
In many cases, a player’s position at the table is determined by seating arrangements. In games with more than one player, the tiles are shuffled and then drawn by each player. The player who draws the domino with the highest number of pips begins the game. In some games, a tie is broken by drawing new hands.
A domino is most often made of ivory, bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), or a dark hardwood such as ebony. Occasionally, a set is made of natural materials, such as stone (e.g., marble or soapstone); other woods (e.g., ash, oak, or redwood); metals; and even ceramic clay. These sets are more expensive than those made of polymer, and they tend to have a heavier feel to them.
Before a game of domino is played, the tiles are shuffled and thoroughly mixed. Typically, the player to the right of the player who made the first play shuffles the tiles before the next game. Alternatively, the player may choose to do the shuffling himself before each game.
Some sets of dominoes have special pieces known as “spinners” that can be played on all four sides. The number of spinners in a set is limited by the maximum number of pips that can be on an end; extensions are available that increase this limit, and larger sets exist that contain double-nine (55 tiles), double-12 (91 tiles), and double-18 (253 tiles).
A University of Toronto physicist recently demonstrated the domino effect using a video camera to show that an upright domino has a considerable amount of energy stored within it. When a domino is dropped, this energy converts from potential energy into kinetic energy, and the effect multiplies as more and more dominoes are added to the chain. As a result, the power of the chain is greater than a player could ever manually set up by himself.