A domino is a rectangular gaming piece with two square ends marked with a number of spots (also called pips). They are often made from bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (MOP), ivory, or dark hardwood such as ebony. The pips may be inlaid or painted and the backs are usually blank. They are used in a variety of games including poker, bridge, and solitaire.
They’re also great toys for kids. They can be stacked on end in long lines and they tumble over each other, creating elaborate designs. They have been called the “toys of a lifetime” by many people and were even featured in an episode of The Simpsons!
Dominoes are a popular family of tile-based games that are similar to those played with playing cards. They consist of a set of 28 gaming pieces that can be arranged in any combination of spot counts from zero to six. Like the faces of a die, each side has an identity-bearing face with a number of pips or spots marked on it. These tiles form the basis of domino sets, which are sometimes called decks or packs.
The traditional European domino set consists of 28 tiles, each with an identity-bearing face that is divided into two square ends by a line. Each end has a unique combination of spot counts and is labeled with a number of pips or dots on the front; some of the ends have no pips. The pips are either inlaid or painted and can be a different color or pattern on each side of the tile.
Some sets feature the top half thickness in MOP, ivory or bone with the lower half in ebony and the pips in black or white. Other sets are made from stone, other woods, or metals.
These sets look more attractive than polymer-based dominoes and are typically a bit heavier, making them feel more substantial. However, these types of dominoes tend to be more expensive than their polymer counterparts.
They’re also very easy to use. Unlike some other game boards, they don’t require any glue or special care in order to keep them together.
To start the game, each player chooses one of the eight face positions and then rolls a single six-sided dice. If the dice roll is a six, the player is considered to have won the game. If the dice roll is a four or a five, the player is considered to have lost.
Traditionally, each face of the domino is marked with an arrangement of spots from zero to six; they are referred to as “pips” or “dots.” They can be viewed by arranging them on the table in their traditional pattern or by drawing a line around the edge of the face. The number of pips on each face indicates the value of each tile in the domino set.
The highest-value tile is the double six, which has six pips on each of its two square ends. Some dominoes use a system that uses Arabic numerals instead of pips, and some are designed to be able to be rolled in a circular pattern, which allows for more complicated combinations of spot counts.