We’ve all seen the videos of long chains of dominoes toppling one by one. The satisfying feeling of tipping the first domino ever-so-slightly, watching it fall, then watching the rest cascade down — it’s a great metaphor for any sort of action that leads to the next in a chain reaction.
Lily Hevesh started playing with dominoes as a child, and she helped to set a Guinness record for the most dominoes in a circular arrangement: 76,017. Hevesh says creating her complex displays is the hard part; then, it’s a matter of letting the dominoes fall according to the laws of physics.
There are many different games that can be played with dominoes, and the basic rules vary from game to game. However, most domino games are played with a standard double-six set, containing 28 tiles. These are shuffled and form the stock or boneyard, from which each player draws seven tiles to play in that round. The remaining tiles are known as the line of play. Typically, the lines are formed by matching pips on the open ends of the tiles. The pips are printed on the faces of the tiles in both vertical and diagonal directions, making it easy to identify which side of a tile is the “line of play” by looking at it from a distance.
The most common way to score a game of domino is by counting the total number of pips on both ends of each piece. The more pips on the end of a tile, the higher the count. In some games, a number of points is also calculated by calculating the sum of the numbers on both sides of a double.
Most dominoes are marked with a single pip on each end. Each additional pip added to a domino increases the count by 1. However, some sets are made with more than one type of pip. These sets have additional markings, such as dots or stars, in addition to the normal pips. These types of dominoes are sometimes called super-pips or deluxe-pips.
Some sets are also marked with a special color that indicates the suit to which a tile belongs, such as red for spades. Others have a number that indicates the rank of the domino. There are even sets with Arabic numerals on the pips, which can help players to distinguish the various suits.
Dominoes are often played with a single player, but most people enjoy playing in groups of two or more. When playing a game with more than one person, it is important to keep track of who has which domino and to ensure that no one plays out of turn. A player who plays a tile out of turn must recall it before the next player makes his or her play.
As the dominoes fall, much of their potential energy is converted to kinetic energy (the energy of motion). Some of this kinetic energy is transferred to the next domino, giving it the push needed to knock it over. This process continues, until the last domino falls, completing the circuit.