A small rectangular wood or plastic block used as a gaming object. Its face is divided into two equal parts and marked with dots resembling those on dice. Dominoes are also called bones, pieces, men, or cards. Games can be played with a single domino or a large group. The most popular are the double-6, double-9, and double-12 sets. The word domino is derived from the Latin verb domini, meaning “to dominate.”
When the first domino falls, it releases energy into its neighbors. Some of that energy converts to kinetic energy and pushes the next domino over, and so on. The process continues until the last domino falls. Dominoes can be set up to form curved lines, grids that build pictures when they fall, or 3D structures like towers and pyramids.
Hevesh is a master of creating mind-blowing domino setups. When designing her creations, she follows a version of the engineering-design process. First she considers the purpose or theme of the installation and brainstorms images or words that might help convey it. Then she creates a prototype and tests it to see if it works as planned. Finally, she builds the final design, often using a computer program to map out the layout and determine how many dominoes it will need to complete the scene.
While the most common domino games involve blocking or scoring, there are many other games that can be played with a set. For example, a variation of Concentration, called Muggins, can be played with a double-six set. The rules are simple. Each player places a domino end to end except for doubles, which are placed at right angles to the line of play. Then the players score based on the numbers on the exposed ends of each domino.
There are also some games that have no fixed number of dominoes that can be played. These include the so-called “blocking” and “scoring” games, in which each player takes turns laying down a domino according to game rules. During the course of a game, each player tries to remove all of their dominoes from the table. A player who fails to do so loses the game.
The most popular domino sets contain 28 dominoes, but they can be expanded to as many as 91. The larger the set, the more difficult it is to identify each domino by its individual pips, so some use more easily recognizable Arabic numerals on each side of the dominoes.
Most domino games are designed to be played with two or more people. If one person cannot play a domino when his or her turn comes up, the player must draw from the boneyard until he or she finds a domino that matches the value of a previously played domino. This process is repeated until a player wins the game or is unable to play any more of his or her dominoes.
