Domino is a popular game that involves scoring points by laying dominoes in a line and touching adjacent sides. It is also used as a tool to teach children numbers and other information in a fun way. It can be played with a single player or multiple players, with one or more opponents. It is easy to play and can be as simple or complicated as you like.
There are many different games that use domino, some of which are blocking games, while others involve scoring and determining the winning player by counting the total number of pips (spots) on each tile. A few of the most common games include bergen, muggins, chinese checkers and mexican train. Other games, such as matador and chicken foot, are variations of card games that were once popular in places where religious prohibitions against the playing of cards were in effect.
A domino is normally twice as long as it is wide and has a central line that divides it visually into two squares. Each of these squares, called ends, is marked with a value that can range from six to zero pips. The pips are typically painted on each end of the domino in a color that contrasts with the background. A domino with a value of zero pips is sometimes called a “blank” or “wild.”
The value of a domino is determined by the number and color of its pips, with higher values having more pips and thus being worth more. Some dominoes have all black pips, while others have white pips. A few of the most common pips are 0 (blank), 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
Some sets of dominoes have a unique look and feel, due to their material and craftsmanship. Traditionally, European-style dominoes are made from bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory or a dark hardwood such as ebony, with contrasting black or white pips inlaid or painted. Some dominoes are made from more unusual materials such as marble, soapstone or ceramic clay. These sets tend to have a heavier weight and feel and can be more expensive than those made of polymer materials.
Domino is an interesting game to study for writers because it has the potential to help them create dynamic characters and dramatic scenes. The most effective scene dominoes are not necessarily the heaviest, or the highest in rank, but the ones that push or influence other scene dominoes. This can be applied to fiction as well as nonfiction writing, and may be especially useful in the drafting stages of a novel.
Hevesh has become a professional domino artist, assembling large-scale displays for movies, TV shows and events, as well as working on team projects that have resulted in Guinness World Record attempts. Her largest installations take several nail-biting minutes to fall, but they do so according to the laws of physics. A small nudge from the first domino can cause the entire chain to topple.
