Dominoes ›
Rules of Dominoes
History of dominoes
Dominoes is a board game that can be considered as an extension of dice. Though its origin is supposed to be in Near Eastern antiquity, it seems that the present form of the game was not known until the middle of the 18th century when it was introduced by the Italians.
Its popularity in Latin American countries is immense, particularly in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Cuba, etc.)
Aim of the game
To play dominoes 28 rectangular tiles are needed. Each tile is divided into 2 equal spaces in which appear a figure from 1 to 6. The figures cover all the combinations possible with these numbers.
It is possible to play with 2, 3 or 4 players or in pairs.
The aim of the game is to place all your tiles on the table before the opponents and score points. The player that wins the round, scores points according to the tiles that could not be placed by the opponents.
The game ends when one player or pair acheive the number of points indicated in the table options.
Dominoes game
How to play dominoes
Each player receives 7 tiles when a round starts. If there are less than 4 players in the game, the other tiles are kept in the stock.
The player who starts the round is the one who has the highest double (if 4 people play, the double 6 will always start). If no players have doubles, the player who has the highest tile will start. So, they will play, per turns, in the anticlockwise direction.
The player that starts the round is the hand. This is an important concept for the strategy of dominoes, because the player or the pair that is the “hand”, usually takes advantage during the round.
Game play
On their turn, each player must place one of their tiles at one of the 2 open ends, so that the numbers of one of the sides of the tile match up with the numbers of the end where the tile is placed. The doubles are placed at cross to make their finding easy.
Once the player places a tile, his/her turn finishes and passes to the following player.
If a player can’t play, he must take from the pot as many tiles as necessary. If there are no tiles left, the turn passes to the next player.
End of a round
The round continues with the players placing their tiles until some of the following situations happen:
- Dominoes
- When a player places his/her last tile on the table, it is said that player controlled the round. If the game is played individually, the player that wins the round scores the points of all his/her opponents. If it is played in pairs, the points of all the players are scored, including the points of the partner.
- Go out
- There are two cases in which no players can continue the game. That happens when the numbers of the sides are placed 7 times, that moment is said the game is closed. The players count the points of the tiles they have; the player or pair that has less points is the winner and the points are scored as usual.
It is possible that 2 or more players have the same number of points. In this case, this winner is the player or the pair who is the hand or that was closer to the player that is the hand.
Following rounds
On the following rounds, the player that starts the game is the following on turn. He/she can start placing the tile he/she wants even if it is not a double tile.
End of game
The game ends when a player or pair gets the amount of points necessary to win.
Controls
To place a tile, simply click on it. It is also possible to sweep it along the place you want.
The stock
The stock will appear automatically when a player needs to make use of it. If the player gets one tile and still cannot place it, the stock will continue visible until a valid tile is got or the tiles of the stock finish.
To get a tile, click on it. If there are not tiles anymore and the player cannot place any, he/she will “pass” automatically.
How to arrange the tiles
To arrange the tiles as you wish, click on a tile and drag it along the others.
Click right under a tile to turn it around.
Visual aid to play
Keep the cursor over a tile to know how many tiles with that number are already placed. On your turn, your tiles will appear highlighted if you can place them.
If you are an advanced player, you can deactivate these helps from the settings tab in the game.
Dominoes visual aid
Why do robots play? What for?
In some games, when a player loses connection during the game, a robot substitutes until the player can return. The player has a time allowed of some minutes to return to the game and continue playing.
End the game amicably (cancel game)
Some games have the option of ending the game amicably. If this happens, the game is cancelled. That is, the players don’t receive or lose points and the game doesn’t count in the leaderboards or statistics. What’s more, the chips bet are returned to each player (except in the case of penalisation for abandoning the game).
To cancel a game, one of the players must click the following button 
. All the players must agree to end the game, otherwise the game will continue.
The robot doesn’t count in the votes to end a game amicably.
Table options
- Time per turn
- Used to indicate the time a player has to play on his/her turn. If the time ends, the game plays for him/her. See also: Game in automatic mode
- Limit of points (50-300)
- Determines the limit of points to win the game.
Ranking for points
To take part in the leaderboard of this game, it is necessary to be registered and have chips enough to meet the bets.
To score points, the games have to be competitive (indicated by a boxing glove or swords). There is no scoring if 2 players at the table share the same IP.
If at one table game chips are being bet, you will need to have sufficient chips available to cover the bet. The winner of the game will get the XP points and the chips bet (the bank will receive 40% of the pot).
The experience points (XP) got depend on the number of players and they are calculated 10×number of players. If the game is in pairs, the points are shared between the winning pair.
- 2 players: 20 XP points
- 3 players: 30 XP points
- 4 players: 40 XP points
- In pairs: 20 points for each
The players that lose a game, add 5 points.