Domino Days

By Debbie Rodgers

Playing instructions for popular domino games...

Draw

  • An easy basic game (5 to 10 minutes)
  • Draw can be played with 2 to 4 players and starts out with each player drawing a hand of tiles or "bones". (7 each for two players, 5 each for 3 or 4 players). Players keep their dominoes secret by standing them on the long edges so that only they can see them.
  • The player with the highest double lays down first and play moves to the left. Each player matches a domino to open ends of the dominoes already played. If a player does not have a matching domino, then she must pick a tile from the "boneyard" of undealt tiles. If that tile cannot be played, the player passes.The game is over when one player does domino (plays her last bone) or when all players have consecutively passed.
  • If you wish to keep score: the player who dominoes or, if everyone passed, the player with the least number of spots, scores equal to the number of spots on the tiles in the hands of all the other players. First player to score 100 wins.

Block

  • An easy basic game (about 10 minutes)
  • Played with a double six set.
  • Block can be played with 2 to 4 players. The 28 tiles are divided evenly among the players. Any remaining tiles are set aside and considered out of play. Players keep their dominoes secret by standing them on the long edges so that only they can see them.
  • The player with the highest double lays down first and play moves to the left. Each player matches a domino to open ends of the dominoes already played. If a player does not have a matching domino, then he must pass. No bones are drawn from the boneyard. The game is over when one player goes domino (plays his last bone) or when all players have consecutively passed.
  • If you wish to keep score: the player who dominoes or, if everyone passed, the player with the least number of spots, scores equal to the number of spots on the tiles in the hands of all the other players. First player to score 100 wins.

Concentration

  • A memory & addition game (about 5 to 15 minutes)
  • Played with a double six or a double nine set.
  • Concentration can be played with 2 to 6 players. The object of the game is to collect pairs of dominoes. A pair is two dominoes whose total spots equal 12. Set out the dominoes face down in a rectangle – 4 x 7 for the double sixes, or 5 x 11 for the double nine set.
  • Each player takes turns turning up two tiles. If the tiles make a pair, remove them from the rectangle and place them in front of you. If the tiles do not make a pair, turn them face down again. In either case, your turn ends and the next player takes a turn. The game ends when the there are no tiles left to turn over. Every player counts the number of tiles he picked up. The player with the most domino pairs wins the round.
  • If you wish to keep score, allot one point to each player for every tile picked up. The first player to reach 50 points wins the game.

Five-Up

  • A game of strategy (about 1 – 2 hours)
  • Played with a double six or a double nine set.
  • Five-up can be played with 2 to 4 players. To determine who plays first, have each player draw one domino. The person who holds the most dots will start the game. Replace the tiles, shuffle, then have each player draw 5 tiles. The remaining tiles are set aside as the boneyard.
  • The first player places a tile face-up on the table. Each player in turn matches a tile to the open end of any domino in play. If a player has no matching pieces, she must draw from the boneyard until she does.
  • Points are scored when the sum of all open ends of the dominoes on the table equals a multiple of five. So if the first piece is a six-two and you add a two-four, the total of the open ends is ten (six plus four). Your score would be 2, that is, 1 point for each multiple of 5.
  • The game is over when one player goes domino (plays her last bone) or when all players have consecutively passed. The winner of the round is either the player who called domino or, if all players passed, the one who has the lowest count of dots in her hand. Add the dots on the losers’ remaining tiles and divide by five. Add this to the round winner’s score. The first player to reach 61 points wins the game.

Chicken Foot

  • An easy game (about 20-30 minutes)
  • Played with a double nine or double twelve set.
  • Chicken Foot is best played with 4 or more players. The goal is to score as few points as possible.
  • The player with the highest double lays down first and play moves to the left. Each player matches a domino to open ends of the dominoes already played. If a player does not have a matching domino, he must draw once. If that tile cannot be played, he must pass.
  • The chicken foot is formed when a double is played in the course of the game. As usual, the doublet is placed crosswise to the previous tile. Then three matching tiles must be played to the double before play can continue anywhere else on the table. Arrange the three tiles at angles to represent chicken "toes". After the chicken foot is completed, the game may proceed anywhere.
  • The game ends when one player goes domino (plays his last bone) or when all players have consecutively passed (the boneyard is empty).
  • When the total score of any player reaches a pre-established number (for example 200), the game is over. The player with the lowest score wins.

Score points as follows:

  • The player who went out.....0
  • Other players......dot total
  • Double blank......50 points

Mexican Train

  • Can be played as a basic matching game with young children, or as a game of strategy with teens and adults (1 – 3 hours depending on pre-arranged score)
  • Played with double twelve or double fifteen set when there are 6 - 12 players. If fewer than 6 are playing, best with double nine set.
  • There are MANY variations of Mexican train, but here’s one we’ve enjoyed. Place all of the dominoes face down on the playing surface and shuffle. Have each player draw tiles (for 5 to 6 players – 12 tiles; for 7 to 8 players – 10 tiles; for 9 or more – 8 tiles). Set aside the remaining tiles in the boneyard.
  • The player with the highest double lays down first and play moves to the left. Each player matches a domino to the starting double. Each player has her space to build her train, which radiates from the centre domino. The separate Mexican train also starts at the center tile, and may be started by any player using a tile that matches the starting double. No player may play on another player’s train until a player has been unable to play and has placed a marker (penny) on her last played domino. Therefore, a player may play on her own train, the Mexican train, and any other player’s train that has a marker on it.
  • When a player cannot play anywhere on the table, then she must pick a tile from the boneyard of undealt tiles. If that tile cannot be played, the player passes.
  • If a player could not play on her train and has placed a marker on it leaving it open for another player, she may on subsequent turns take control of her train again by playing on it and then removing the marker.
  • When a player lays down a double, she may play another tile – but it must be on this double. If she cannot play, then she must pass. A matching tile must be played to the double before play can continue anywhere else on the table. If the next player cannot match the double, play will pass to the next player and so on.
  • The round ends when one player goes domino (plays her last bone).

  • When the total score of any player reaches a pre-established number (for example 500), the game is over. The player with the lowest score wins.

Score points as follows:

  • Player who went out ......0
  • Other players......dot total
  • Double blank......50

For More Information:

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