A domino is a small rectangular block, thumb-sized, with a face either blank or marked with one to six pips or dots. A set of 28 such blocks forms a complete set of dominoes. Dominoes are used for many games played by matching the ends of pieces and laying them down in lines or angular patterns. The game of domino is sometimes called a tile game or simply a dominoes game. A player wins a domino game by playing all of his or her tiles.
A professional domino artist is an individual who creates spectacular, intricate setups using dominoes. These artworks may be displayed at museums, casinos, or other entertainment venues to help attract guests and boost revenue. Lily Hevesh is a professional domino artist who has earned a reputation for creating stunning setups. She has worked on projects for films, TV shows, and events, including an album launch by Katy Perry. She has also developed a popular YouTube channel where she posts videos of her creations.
Whether used as toys or for gaming, dominoes are a versatile, fun-filled activity that provides hours of entertainment and learning for children and adults alike. One of the best-known activities involving dominoes is the “domino effect,” a phrase that refers to the cascading sequence of events that results from a single initial action. For example, if one soccer team wins a big game against their biggest rivals, it can cause the other team to lose and eventually lead to the state playoffs. This is a perfect example of the domino effect.
The term domino has also been used in figurative language to refer to any series of events that start with a small trigger and lead to larger consequences. For example, a domino effect could be a fender bender that causes your car to have to get repaired, or a simple disagreement between two coworkers that spirals out of control.
When playing a game of domino, each player begins by drawing a hand of dominoes according to the rules of the particular game. Each player then places one of his or her tiles onto the table, positioning it so that the open end is touching an adjacent tile if possible and matching the number of pips on each of the two tiles. If a double tile is played, the two matching halves must touch fully. The shape that develops as the domino chain grows is known as the line of play.
Once the line of play is established, each player must take turns placing additional tiles into the line of play. In most games, each tile must be played to an adjacent open end of another tile that matches the number of pips on the domino being played. If a player does not have any tiles with matching numbers, he or she must draw from the boneyard until a match is found. This process is referred to as byeing.
In some games, a player may choose to buy tiles from the boneyard, as permitted by the rules of the game being played. These extra tiles are added to the number of existing tiles in the line of play, which is then continued in the usual manner. This is a common strategy in games where the goal is to build up a large score.