A domino is a rectangular block with a line down its middle that divides it visually into two squares. Each end is either blank or marked with a number of dots, called pips. Dominoes are like dice and playing cards in that they can be used to play a wide variety of games. There are many different types of dominoes, but they all share the same basic design. Some are larger than others, and they come in various colors and finishes. The smallest dominoes are known as singles, while the largest ones are called doubles. The pips on each side of the domino give it a value, which is used to determine its rank and the order in which it should be placed on the table.
A single domino has one group of pips on each end, while doubles have two groups. Most domino sets have a domino with six pips, and most games are played with these. But there are also dominoes with fewer pips, and even no pips at all.
Dominoes are arranged in lines, and each player takes turns playing a domino and then putting it down on the line of play. The first person to put down a domino wins that round. Normally, each player places his or her dominoes in a line, but if the table is too small to make this possible, the pieces can be placed at an angle instead.
The first rule of domino is that a player must play a domino when it’s his or her turn, regardless of whether the player has any more than one piece left. This rule prevents players from intentionally holding back a domino for strategic purposes.
Once a player has played all of his or her dominoes, the next person takes his or her turn. The object is to score as many points as possible by laying down dominoes so that their ends match (one’s touch ones, two’s touch two’s, etc.). In some games, the ends of a double are exposed and, if they total a multiple of five, the player scores that amount of points.
A popular form of domino is the one-point game, in which each player tries to be the first to place a domino so that it touches an adjacent domino. To do this, each player must draw a random domino from the stack and then place it on the table so that the ends of the dominoes match. After placing the first domino, each player must continue to draw and play until all of his or her dominoes are laid. The player who does this first scores the most points in the round. In the case of a tie, both players receive the same score. The points are tallied at the end of the round.