Easy Ways to Play Dominoes

Block Dominoes

• Block Dominoes is the typical game played with double-six dominoes. It is the simplest variation and very easy to learn. In a two player game, the dominoes are shuffled and each player draws seven tiles to form a hand. You can also play with three or four players, but in that case, each player only draws five tiles. Whoever has the highest double tile, the domino has the same number on each end, starts by laying it out as the "boneyard." The players take turns laying down a tile that they can match to a number on either end of the boneyard, building a long line of tiles. All doubles are turned crossways and players can build in either direction off these tiles. If a player cannot make a match on the boneyard then he must pass. The game continues until one player uses all of his tiles or no player is able to make a move. The later is known as a "blocked game." To score the hand, the player who runs out of dominoes or has the lowest remaining total wins the total points of his opponents' hands. Each dot on the tiles counts as one point. Set a score goal to play to before you begin and the first player to reach it wins.

Draw Dominoes

• Draw Dominoes is a similar game to Block Dominoes, except the tiles not drawn for the initial hand are left in the middle to make a boneyard that players can draw from. Two or three players start with seven tiles, four players start with six tiles. When playing with four people, you may play in two two-person teams. The game play works the same as Block Dominoes except instead of passing when a player cannot add to the line of dominoes, she must draw from the face down boneyard tiles. The player continues to draw until she can play a tile. The game stops when the boneyard gets down to two tiles. If the layout becomes blocked then the next player must draw all the remaining tiles except the last two. Players can also use strategy and draw tiles even if they do not require them to make a play. This is sometimes done to try and block the layout so the next player has to draw all the tiles. At the end of the hand, the winner is the player with the lowest total number on his dominoes. He is awarded the total points held by all players minus his own points.

Trains

• Trains is a game played with either a double nine or double twelve set of dominoes. The game starts by dealing a hand for up to 10 players. The more players you have, the smaller the hands will be. In a typical four player game, each player starts with 13 tiles in a double nine set and 22 in a double twelve set. One player begins by playing the highest double tile in front of him. This is the player's train engine. Play continues as players take turns trying to build their trains by matching like values to extend the train. All tiles are played in a straight line in one direction until someone "dominoes" or runs out of tiles. After adding one "car" to the engine, players may use up dominoes by playing a maximum of one tile on each of the other player's trains if needed. Extending your own train and blocking the other players' trains making it impossible for them to play is the goal. No tiles are drawn from a boneyard. The hand ends when one player runs out of tiles. That player then gets five points for each tile remaining in the hands of the other players. The game goes to 120 points.

Bergen

• Bergen is an easy and popular dominoes game similar to Train, only all players play on one train layout. Use a double six set and deal two players six tiles each and place 16 tiles face down in the boneyard. Four players get five tiles and the boneyard is eight tiles. One player starts a train and each player adds to it by matching values. If a player cannot play, he must draw from the boneyard until he can. If he cannot play and cannot draw, he must pass his turn. The game goes on until the boneyard is empty and no one can play. Scoring is a bit different in Bergen because it is kept during the actual play of the game. When a player makes both ends of the train have an equal value he scores two points. The player scores three points on a "triple header," which means one end of the train ends with a value that is equal to a double tile on the other end. Two points are awarded to a player who dominoes or blocks the train. Two player games play to 15, while more players means the game only goes to 10 points.