The Basics of Domino
Domino is a tile-based game where the objective is to build a line of dominoes with matching numbers or pictures. It is an entertaining game that can be played by both children and adults, and it can also be used in instructional ot games to reinforce concepts or teaching skills. For example, students with Autism may use dominoes with photos of friends and classmates to help them recall the names of these individuals.
Dominoes are normally twice as long as they are wide, and the number of pips on each side indicates its value. The most common domino has a value of six pips, but some have fewer or none. The heaviest domino, called the lead, begins the line of play. The player who draws the highest double, a spinner, or a single starts the next play.
There are many different variations of the domino game, but most fall into one of four categories: bidding games, blocking games, scoring games and round games. Each has its own rules, and some even have special terminology to differentiate them. For instance, there is a term called “passing” and another called “byeing.” In some games, the players may buy tiles from the stock (See “Passing and Byeing” below).
After the initial domino tiles are shuffled, they are placed in a pile or stack face down on the table to form what is known as the stock or boneyard. Each player then draws seven tiles from the stock. The tiles drawn are then laid out on-edge in front of each player. This allows players to see the pips on their opponents’ tiles, but not those of their own.
As each player matches and plays a domino, the resulting configuration is called the layout, string or line of play. The dominoes in the line of play are joined either lengthwise, with the matching number of each domino being played on the end of the line, or crosswise, with each individual domino joining to the adjacent edge of a previous domino. Generally, all doubles and only some singles are played crosswise.
In a game of domino, players draw the number of tiles specified in the rules of the particular domino being played and then place them in their hands. If a player draws a domino with a value that is not specified in the game’s rules, it must be passed or byed and can not be played.
In a 1983 study, University of British Columbia physicist Stephen Morris demonstrated that a chain of dominoes can be made to fall when the first domino is merely pushed forward. This is due to the fact that each domino has inertia, which means it resists motion until there is enough force to push it past its tipping point. Then the potential energy that was stored in the domino becomes available for action, namely, pushing the next domino over. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as the Domino Effect.