A domino is a rectangular, rounded game piece, commonly made from ebony or ivory. It has a line down the middle, and each face is divided into two squares called ends. The ends can have blank spots or pips, and a single tile is the only one in the suit of zero, six, or seven.
Dominoes can be used in games for both children and adults. They can be played with other players or against a computer. During the mid-18th century, dominoes were introduced to England by French prisoners of war. Since then, they have spread throughout the world.
In the West, dominoes are typically played for positional games. Players are given a certain number of tiles, and they draw from a stock of pieces. When the number of tiles required is reached, the first player begins the game by playing a domino. Once the first domino is tipped, the second player is required to match the pips of the first domino. If the number of pips matches the number of pips of the first domino, the first player wins.
The second player then draws seven tiles, and the game continues until all the tiles have been drawn. If there are more than seven tiles in a deck, a concentration variant is played. This game is similar to the double-six set, and the players each draw seven tiles from the stock.
Another type of domino game is a scoring game. This is where players try to divide five or three into two tiles, with the lead piece having the highest total pip count. There is also a game of pairs, where a single tile can belong to more than one suit. These types of domino games are very popular, and they can be played with either a single or multi-player set.
Traditionally, European-style dominoes are made from bone or ivory. Today, dominoes are made from plastic or wood. Some larger domino sets use Arabic numerals instead of pips.
Chinese dominoes were known during the 17th century, and are now used for various traditional games. These include Tien Gow and Pai Gow. Che Deng and other traditional Chinese domino games are also played.
However, dominoes have also been used to study nerve cells. To understand their structure, dominoes are often arranged to create elaborate patterns. Usually, they are twice the length and width of a single tile, so it is possible to create a long line of dominoes.
Dominoes are often used to play solitaire and trick-taking games. The main purpose of these games is to score points. While there are a few variations, most of these games involve drawing a certain number of tiles and trying to get the most points from them. One of the most popular types of domino games is a scoring game, which involves drawing tiles until the number of points is reached.
Other common types of domino games are those that require a larger set, like the double-15 and the double-18 sets. Both of these sets have 136 tiles and 253 tiles, respectively. Using these larger domino sets is often preferred in games with more than one player.