Dominoes is a family of tile-matching games played with a standard double-six set (28 tiles, every pairing from blank/0 through 6). In the most common scored game, players draw a hand of tiles, take turns adding a tile whose end matches an open end of the layout, and try to be first to play all their tiles. The player who 'dominoes' (empties their hand) wins the hand and scores the pips remaining in opponents' hands; players play repeated hands until someone reaches an agreed target score.

How to Play Dominoes (Block, Draw, and All Fives)

Equipment

A standard double-six domino set has 28 tiles, one for every unordered pair of values from blank (0) to 6. Each tile is split into two ends, each showing a number of pips (0-6). You also need a way to keep score.

Setup

1. Place all 28 tiles face down and shuffle them. This shared pool of face-down tiles is the boneyard (stock).

2. Each player draws a starting hand. The number drawn depends on the variant and player count:

   • Block game: sources disagree on hand size — Masters of Games uses 8 for 2 players and 6 for 3-4 players, while Pagat uses 7 for 2 players and 5 for 3-4 players; both are common table conventions. 5+ players typically draw 5 each.
   • Draw game: per the cited Pagat rules, 2 players draw 7 tiles each; 3 players draw 7 each; 4 players draw 6 each.
   • All Fives (Muggins): Masters of Games has every player draw 5 tiles regardless of count; Pagat's line version deals 7 to 2 players and 5 to 3-4 players. Use whichever your table agrees on; the recorded result is unaffected. The remaining tiles stay in the boneyard.

3. Keep your tiles hidden from opponents. Decide a target score for the match (commonly 100; some tables use 150, 200, or 250).

Who goes first

The player holding the highest double (e.g., 6-6) usually opens by playing it; if no one holds a double, the highest tile leads, or players draw to decide. After the first hand, the winner of the previous hand opens the next.

Taking a turn

Play proceeds clockwise. On your turn you add one tile to the layout so that a value on your tile matches an open end of the line:

• The first tile played starts the line. Each later tile must touch an open end with a matching number (a 4 plays against a 4, etc.).

• Doubles are normally placed crosswise; depending on house rules they may create extra branches, but in the basic line game they simply add another open end of the same value.

• If you cannot play a matching tile:

  • Block game: you 'knock' (pass) and your turn ends.
  • Draw game: you must draw tiles from the boneyard until you can play, or until the boneyard is nearly empty, after which you pass.

Ending a hand

A hand ends when either:

• A player plays their last tile ('dominoes' / 'chips out'), or

• The game is blocked because no one can play.

Scoring a hand

• A player emptied their hand: that player wins the hand and scores the total pips remaining in all opponents' hands.

• Blocked hand: each player counts the pips left in their own hand. The player with the fewest pips wins the hand and scores the difference between their pip count and each opponent's pip count (rules vary; many tables simply award the low-pip player the sum of the others' pips). If two players tie for fewest pips in a blocked hand, the hand is typically a wash (no score) or decided by house rule.

• All Fives (Muggins): in addition to end-of-hand pip scoring, players score during play whenever the sum of the open ends is a multiple of five (e.g., open ends of 5 and 0 = 5 points; 4 and 6 = 10 points). If a player fails to claim such a score and an opponent calls 'Muggins!', the opponent may take those points.

Winning the match

After each hand, add the hand's score to the winner's running total. Deal and play another hand. The first player (or team) to reach the agreed target score wins the match.

The player who empties their hand scores the sum of pips in all opponents' hands. If the hand blocks, the player with the fewest remaining pips wins the hand and scores the others' pips. Add hand scores across multiple hands until a player reaches the target score (default 100). Higher cumulative score wins.

The targetScore knob is a match param on this variant's ruleset; it sets the match-ending threshold and is not separately scored. hands_won is a diagnostic count metric only — it does NOT sum to total_score because each hand awards a variable number of points based on opponents' leftover pips, so record total_score as authoritative.