Dominoes are a family of tile-based games. Commonly referred to as gaming pieces, dominoes are rectangular tiles with two square ends marked with numbers and spots. A player attempts to line up as many squares in a row as they can. If they do, they win. There are many different types of domino games.
Chinese dominoes
Chinese dominoes is a variant of the dice game. Like the dice, the dominoes have a blank side and identifying marks on one side. The game is played with double-nine or double-twelve sets, and the number of tiles in a set depends on the number of players and the size of the set.
The pip pattern of Chinese dominoes is based on the pip patterns of Chinese six-sided dice. Each tile represents one of the outcomes of a roll. There are thirty-two tiles in a set. Players must remember which tiles belong to which suit. These tiles are divided into two “suits” (or types): military and civilian.
Chinese dominoes first appeared in the Yuan Dynasty in China. European travelers mentioned the game during the Renaissance, and it remains popular today in some Asian countries. It is considered the ancestor of the game Mah Jong. It differs from Western dominoes in several ways. For example, the Chinese dominoes are black-colored, and are made from a hard material.
Blocking games
Blocking games in domino are variations on a traditional game in which the object of the game is to prevent your opponent from making a play. Typically, players place matching dominoes side by side and move them clockwise across the table. Depending on the number of players, the game may also be played in two-player or three-player variations.
There are two ways to score in a blocking game. In the first, the player who has less pips in their hand wins. The second way is by adding the pip count of the opponents’ hands and the player’s hand. If both players have similar pip counts, the winner of the block game is determined by the lower pip count.
Blocking games in domino are some of the simplest domino variations. Players take turns drawing seven tiles from a double-six set. They then take turns extending the line of play. At the end of each round, the player with the most points wins. If they cannot reach the final score, the remaining tiles are set aside in a boneyard and cannot be drawn from again.
Scoring games
Scoring games in domino are based on strategy, where the player who scores the most points wins. These games are similar to blocking dominoes but differ in that players must match pairs of dominoes to score points. In scoring dominoes, players must match tiles of at least two different colors to win.
When playing a scoring game, patience is important. Unlike the block or draw game, where the tiles remain in place until a player passes, the scoring board changes with each lay of dominoes. This means that it can be advantageous to hang onto tiles for later play. While this may be inconvenient, you need to remember that the counting of tiles depends on the position of the pieces on the board.
Scoring games in domino are usually easy to manage. The goal of the game is to reach a score of as many points as possible before the opponent’s last domino is placed. However, the scoring system varies among different varieties. While some domino games have bonus conditions, most games are easy to follow and manage.