Basic Instructions for Dominoes

Starting the Game

• A complete set of dominoes must have 28 pieces. Each piece is split in half to show two different values. Taken together, the pieces will range from double blank to double six. Place all of the dominoes face down on a flat surface and shuffle them. In a two player game, both players start with seven dominoes; if three or four players are participating, each one takes five.

Determining Order

• The player with the highest double domino goes first. This person puts one of his pieces face up in the center of the playing surface.

First Play

• The next player must lay a domino with a like value next to the first domino with the equal number touching. For example, if the first player put down a double "4," you must put down on a domino with a "4" on one end. The next player must then match whatever value is on the other end of your domino.

Playing

• Pick a domino from the pile if your hand does not contain a piece that corresponds to any of the exposed ends of dominoes on the table. The game, or round ends when a player has either played all of the dominoes she had in hand, or no player can make a legal play and all of the dominoes in the pile have been used.

End Game

• If all players are forced to pass, the winner is determined by points. Count the number of dots, or pips, on the tiles remaining in each hand. The winner is the player with the lowest score, or "lightest" hand. Since these games don't take long, in most cases the players will agree to play multiple games until someone reaches a certain number of points, and that person is declared the overall winner. A two-player game usually ends when one player reaches 50 points. A three-player game can end when one player reaches 100 points.