Chinese dominoes are used in several tile-based games, namely, tien gow, pai gow, tiu u and kap tai shap. In Cantonese they are called gwāt pái (骨牌), which literally means "bone tiles"; it is also the name of a northern Chinese game, where the rules are quite different from the southern Chinese version of tien gow.
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ends. Each end is marked with a number of spots or is blank. The backs of the tiles in a set are indistinguishable, either blank or having some common design. The gaming pieces make up a domino set, sometimes called a deck or pack. The traditional European domino set consists of 28 tiles, also known as pieces, bones, rocks, stones, men, cards or just dominoes, featuring all combinations of spot counts between zero and six. A domino set is a generic gaming device, similar to playing cards or dice, in that a variety of games can be played with a set. Another form of entertainment using domino pieces is the practice of domino toppling.
Pai gow is a Chinese gambling game, played with a set of 32 Chinese dominoes. It is played in major casinos in China ; the United States ; Canada ; Australia; and New Zealand.
Tien Gow or Tin Kau is the name of Chinese gambling games played with either a pair of dice or a set of 32 Chinese dominoes. In these games, Heaven is the top rank of the civil suit, while Nine is the top rank of the military suit. The civil suit was originally called the Chinese (華) suit while the military suit was called the barbarian (夷) suit but this was changed during the Qing dynasty to avoid offending the ruling Manchus. The highly idiosyncratic and culture-specific suit-system of these games is likely the conceptual origin of suits, an idea that later is used for playing cards. Play is counter-clockwise.
Pips are small but easily countable items, such as the dots on dominoes and dice, or the symbols on a playing card that denote its suit and value.
Shut the box is a game of dice for one or more players, commonly played in a group of two to four for stakes. Traditionally, a counting box is used with tiles numbered 1 to 9 where each can be covered with a hinged or sliding mechanism, though the game can be played with only a pair of dice, pen, and paper. Variations exist where the box has 10 or 12 tiles.
The Black Path Game is a two-player board game described and analysed in Winning Ways for your Mathematical Plays. It was invented by Larry Black in 1960.
A domino is a tile used in a family of games called "dominoes".
42, also known as Texas 42, is a trick-taking game played with a standard set of double six dominoes. 42 is often referred to as the "state game of Texas". Tournaments are held in many towns, and the State Championship tournament is held annually in Hallettsville, Texas on the first Saturday of March each year. In 2011 it was designated the official State Domino Game of Texas.
Magic Realm is a fantasy adventure board game designed by Richard Hamblen and published by Avalon Hill in 1979. Magic Realm is more complex than many wargames and is somewhat similar to a role-playing game. It can be played solitaire or with up to 16 players and game time can last 4 hours or more. The game board is a type of geomorphic mapboard constructed of large double-sided hexagon tiles, ensuring a wide variety of playing surfaces.
Tsuro is a tile-based board game designed by Tom McMurchie, originally published by WizKids and now published by Calliope Games.
Crosstrack, billed as the "unique track switching game", is an abstract strategy game designed by Philip Shoptaugh and first published in 1994. Players place special track pieces onto an irregular octagon board, winning by being the first to create an unbroken path between two opposite sides. It is an example of a tile-based edge-matching path connection game, similar to the Black Path Game, Trax, and Tsuro, Tantrix and Kaliko, and Octiles.
Muggins, sometimes also called All Fives, is a domino game played with any of the commonly available sets. Although suitable for up to four players, Muggins is described by John McLeod as "a good, quick two player game".
Mexican Train is a game played with dominoes. The object of the game is for a player to play all the tiles from his or her hand onto one or more chains, or trains, emanating from a central hub or "station". The game's most popular name comes from a special optional train that belongs to all players. However, the game can be played without the Mexican train; such variants are generally called "private trains" or "domino trains". It is related to the game Chicken Foot.
A game is a structured type of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work or art.
Piecepack is a public-domain game system that can be used to play a wide variety of board games, much as a standard deck of cards can be used to play thousands of card games. Piecepack has been used by dozens of different game designers to create over 225 different board games and is available from many different manufacturers. It was created by James Kyle in 2001.
Kingdomino is a 2016 tile board game for 2-4 players designed by Bruno Cathala and published by Blue Orange Games. In this 15-20 minute, family-oriented game, players build a five by five kingdom of oversized domino-like tiles, making sure as they place each tile that one of its sides connects to a matching terrain type already in play. The game was critically successful and won the 2017 Spiel des Jahres award, and was followed by several spin-offs and expansions.
The following is a glossary of terms used in dominoes. Besides the terms listed here, there are numerous regional or local slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific, i.e. specific to one particular version of dominoes, but apply to a wide range of domino games. For glossaries that relate primarily to one game or family of similar games, see the relevant article.
Triangular Dominoes is a variant of dominoes using equilateral triangle tiles, patented by Franklin H. Richards in 1885. Two versions were made: a starter set of 35 unique tiles, with each side numbered from zero to four pips, and an advanced set of 56 unique tiles, with each side numbered from zero to five pips. In both versions, a wild card "boss" tile was included, making 36 and 57 tiles in each complete set, respectively.
