“Dominoes” refers to small rectangular blocks made of wood or plastic covered in dots resembling dice, known as pips, on both sides. These pips indicate the value of each tile–doubles are worth two, three, or more points depending on game rules; blank tiles don’t count. A domino has inertia that resists motion unless pushed upon, while even small movements can cause it to collapse; Lily Hevesh of Lily Hevesh fame builds installations featuring thousands of tiles that take minutes or more for everything to collapse; Hevesh has proven adept at preventing major accidental topples as she builds her displays – although small topples still occur frequently during her work on projects!
A domino played as the set, down or lead sets the order of play for all other tiles played during that turn. A double may serve as this lead tile at any point during a game where one player wants to make their first move; or in certain games the initial tile played may even be a spinner that forms different totals than normal dominoes!
Players need to play dominoes that match one or more adjacent tiles in the chain in order to advance to the next phase of the game. If a domino cannot be played due to existing dominoes being unsuitable for match, it must be passed to its right player instead. Alternatively, one may purchase a hand of tiles by paying an amount equal to its value from stock; any previously held tiles may not be purchased again as part of one’s own hand.
As well as traditional plastic dominoes, other natural materials are sometimes used in domino sets such as silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory or dark hardwoods like ebony; such sets tend to be more costly.
There are various variations on dominoes when it comes to their number of pips; for instance, a standard double-six set features twenty-four pips on each side; more advanced sets may feature double-zero or triple-one pips which add extra possibilities in their game play.
Dominoes are traditionally played on tables with firm and smooth surfaces such as wooden or vinyl tables; some players prefer using cloth while others find wooden or vinyl surfaces more appropriate for the game. Dominoes were historically made from bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (MOP), ivory or darker hardwood such as ebony with either painted black or white pips on each domino surface; more recently most sets are composed of polymer material but some sets also contain other materials like stone (e.g. marble, granite or soapstone), metals; ceramic clay; glass; or ceramic clay as well as metals to complete them sets made of polymer material.