Dominoes: From Games to Pizza Night
by Alex J. Coyne © Gifts for Card Players
The famous fast food chain Domino’s Pizza was originally called DomiNick’s until a delivery driver reportedly suggested a name that sounds like more fun than a simple combination of the owners’ names. We’d say his suggestion was spot on: dominoes are fun indeed!
Dominoes have been around since ancient China, though you’re also likely to find a set in the more modern games shelf. If you don’t have a set of dominoes in the house, we can wait a moment while you find one – and it should definitely make your wish-list for the year.
The patterns on dominoes are said to represent the possibilities of cast six-sided dice.
Like card decks, dominoes can also be used for divination (or fortune telling) and can often be found as part of casting (or bone-throwing) sets where each object is given a special meaning… Or you could just play All Fives!
Here’s more about dominoes, including the various games you could play with them.
About Dominoes
Dominoes are called this from the Latin dominus – or master. However, the story goes deeper than this, and the domino was originally a robe worn by priests. The white-and-black patterning of the robes resembled the pattern on the tiles.
There are 28 tiles in a traditional domino set, though there are other variations.
Ancient domino sets were sometimes made from bone, wood, or ivory… Modern domino sets are instead made with plastic or wood!
According to the World Domino Federation, the first set of dominoes date back to as far back as 1120 AD.
Some modern and ancient sets may also use crystal, stone, or rare types of wood.
A domino set can cost anything from a couple dollars to, well, a staggering amount – like the set by Lieb Manufaktur “priced at 147,000 EUR.”
Of course you can also play dominoes online!
Dominoes: The Rules
According to DominoRules.com, standard (or straight) dominoes starts with each player drawing 6 dominoes from the pot. Some rules state that players draw 7 – don’t argue with us about that!
Players with the highest-ranking domino will begin, and players aim to “match” ends with the last domino placed. Players unable to move from their hand must draw a domino from the pile.
The first player with an empty hand ends the game.
Depending where in the world you’re from, you may be more used to All Fives (Muggins) or Threes and Fives – as it’s more popular in UK pubs.
Other variations on the game (or things you can do with a set of dominoes!) include:
MATADOR: Instead of blocking the other player, domino ends must add up to 7. Sometimes called Russian Dominoes.
ALL FIVES: Sometimes called Muggins. One of the most common domino games. Ends must addup to multiples of five.
DOMINO WHIST: Dominoes with different scoring: the first side to lose 100 points loses the game.
THREES AND FIVES: Players aim for multiples of threes-or-fives. More popular in the UK as a pub game.
Where to Buy Domino Sets
In the market for a set of dominoes after reading this?
Luxe Dominoes and Alex Cramer Dominoes have luxury sets for something special. Antiques-Atlas includes some older sets crafted from bone.
You can find Dominos on Amazon here.
Play Dominoes Online
Dominoes aren’t just for the tabletop: you can also take your game online.
Here are some of the best sites for playing dominoes online:
Note, if a link is Amazon, it will include our ‘affiliate’ number. Thank you for your support. We do not affiliate with any other shops at this time.
