Domino
The domino effect, a series of events that begin when one small action creates waves of related effects, can have profound consequences. Examples include the ripple effect of dropping a pebble in water, the effect of firing neurons in the brain, and the effect of a single piece falling on top of other dominos in a game of dominoes. The domino effect can be applied to virtually any situation that causes a cascade of events. In business, it can be used to explain how a change in policy or a product introduction can lead to a domino effect of changes in the market.
The word “domino” can also refer to a variety of games played with such pieces, including positional games where players in turn place tiles on the table, positioning each so that adjacent ends match (e.g., 5 to 5) or form some specified total. There are also scoring games, such as bergen and muggins, and blocking games, such as matador and chicken foot.
A complete set of dominoes consists of 28 rectangular blocks, each either blank or bearing from one to six dots resembling those on dice. In its earliest sense, domino referred to a long hooded cloak worn together with a mask at a masquerade or carnival. The word has since come to mean a game that involves matching the ends of dominoes and laying them down in lines or angular patterns.
Dominoes can be made of many materials, but European-style dominoes are traditionally made of bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory or ebony, with contrasting black or white pips inlaid or painted on each side. Other dominoes are produced in ceramic, metal and other materials, but these are not usually considered to be true dominoes.
When a domino is played, it sets off a chain of events that continues until all the dominoes have fallen or the players have run out of tiles. The chain can be interrupted by the play of another tile that shows an end that matches the end of the previous domino, or the players can choose to stop the chain and reassess their positions.
Dominoes are used for both casual and competitive games of skill, strategy and chance. Most of these games involve positioning dominoes edge to edge, but some require that the entire set be laid out before a player can start. The game also has a number of variations and rules that allow players to tailor the game to their own preferences and abilities. A popular variation of the game involves placing a grid of dots that can be filled in with shapes or numbers to produce pictures when the dominoes fall. A version of this game has been made for mobile phones, in which the dominoes are placed on a flat surface and the dominoes are moved as needed to fill the grid. Dominoes are also used to create artistic works, such as curved lines and 3D structures like towers or pyramids.