Domino is a game in which players set up tiles in a line and then flick them, one by one, so that they all fall in order. Dominoes can be made in a variety of shapes and sizes, from simple straight or curved lines to stacked walls and 3D structures like pyramids and towers. Many people enjoy dominoes as a form of art, with some creating complex designs that require many domino pieces and take hours to complete.
The game of dominoes dates back to the mid-18th century, although there are likely earlier examples of tile-based games. The word domino may be traced back to an Old English term meaning “to control.” The game’s popularity may have been a result of the fact that it was played with a set of cards, which were used to circumvent religious prohibitions against gambling.
As with most games, there are variations in rules from place to place. For example, some domino sets use different numbers of pips for the same rank, and some games allow players to buy tiles from the other players’ hands. Some games also have special scoring rules, for example, counting all of the number of pips on the tiles in a player’s hand at the end of a hand or a game and adding that total to the winner’s score.
There are also other games of domino that don’t involve playing against the opponents; for example, there are solitaire or trick-taking domino games that were once popular as ways to circumvent religious proscriptions against card-based gaming. These types of domino games tend to be simpler than blocking or scoring games, and some are even designed to be non-violent.
Dominoes can be made out of a wide range of materials. Traditionally, European-style dominoes are made of bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory, or dark hardwood such as ebony, with contrasting black or white pips inlaid or painted. More recently, dominoes have been made of other stones, such as marble, granite, or soapstone; other woods such as ash, maple, or oak; metals such as brass or pewter; or ceramic clay.
Some of the most elaborate domino setups are created for domino shows, where professional builders create spectacular effects and reactions before an audience. Some of the most impressive displays are made with thousands of dominoes, each requiring a careful sequence to set up and then just seconds to topple.
The process of making a domino setup begins with a drawing of the stock, the group of tiles that are available to all of the players. Each player then places his or her hand of dominoes on the table, and the first player draws a tile from the stock. The other players then follow his lead by placing their tiles in a line on the table in such a way that the adjacent faces match either in their number of pips or their color, depending on the game being played.