Dominoes

Tips for Dominoes

In Dominoes, every tile left in your hand counts against you, because the winner of a round collects every pip still sitting in the other hands, and when nobody can go the lightest hand takes it. That makes it worth getting your heavy tiles and doubles down early, while there are still open ends that fit them. A double has the same number at both ends, so it only matches one value and gets harder to place as the round goes on.

In Block there is no boneyard, so when nothing fits you knock and your turn passes. Keeping a spread of different numbers gives you more ways to answer either end. Draw is gentler, because you keep pulling until something fits, so it is the easier game to start with. If you switch on All Fives, check what the two open ends add up to before you lay a tile, since a multiple of five pays out. Easy plays whatever fits, while Sharp counts the tiles and remembers every value you knocked on, so try not to show it which numbers you are short of.

How to play Dominoes

Dominoes is played with a double-six set, and the aim of each round is to play out every tile in your hand before your opponents do. Players take turns laying a tile whose pips match one of the two open ends of the chain on the table. Doubles go down crosswise. When the chain reaches the edge of the table it turns and comes back the other way, and the view scales so you can always see all of it.

What happens when you cannot play depends on the game you pick on the title screen. In Draw you keep taking tiles from the boneyard until one fits. In Block there is no boneyard, so you knock and your turn passes to the next player. The round ends when someone lays their last tile, and that player scores every pip still left in the other hands. If nobody can go, the lightest hand takes the round. With All Fives switched on, the open ends also pay out whenever they add up to a multiple of five.

A scoreboard keeps the totals round by round, and you choose whether the match runs to fifty, a hundred or a hundred and fifty points. On a computer you pick a tile and click an open end to lay it there, or play straight from the number keys; P pauses, M mutes and R replays the round. On a phone or tablet you tap a tile and tap an open end, or drag the tile across the felt.

About Dominoes

Dominoes is one of the classic tile games, played with rectangular tiles marked with pips, and the double-six set is the one most people know. Kiloo's Dominoes is set at a little round bistro table on green baize, with the afternoon sun coming through the window and three regulars in the other chairs: Bram the old sea captain, Nella the student and Ida with her knitting bag. They talk as they play, and you choose how sharp they are. Easy plays whatever fits, Steady sheds its heaviest tiles and gets its doubles down early, and Sharp counts the tiles, remembers every value you knocked on and tries to leave you an end you cannot answer.

The game suits anyone who likes a short round with simple rules and a little counting, and the three levels let beginners and practised players find a fair table. Two people can also share one device and pass it back and forth. Draw, Block and the optional All Fives scoring give you three ways to play, and your best score is kept in the browser on your computer, tablet or phone.

Frequently asked questions