Domino is a tile-based game in which players try to get a chain of domino pieces to fall over without knocking over any of the opponent’s tiles. It is played by two or more people and can be played on a flat surface such as a table. Many different games can be played with a domino set and each has its own rules. Some games involve the placing of tiles while others have scoring elements. There are also a number of different layout games which require the dominoes to be placed in specific ways.
The game’s name is derived from the Latin dominum, meaning “heavy thing that topples.” In its early use, this word was used to refer to anything that was weighty or large and that could cause something else to topple. The word has also been used to describe the effect of one small action leading to a cascade of similar actions. For example, when Jennifer Dukes Lee began to make her bed each day, she started the habit of making her whole home clean and organized. This domino effect is a form of behavioral self-sustainment.
A domino is a rectangular tile with groups of dots on each side. The spots are called pips and are either black or white. Each domino has a unique combination of pips. The most common domino sets contain 28 tiles and are referred to as double six. Larger sets exist and are commonly used for more complicated games.
The most popular types of domino games are layout games. In these, the goal is to place tiles in order to build a long domino chain. Each new tile must be placed so that it touches a domino that is already in play. The chains can develop in a variety of shapes, and some of the more popular ones include matador, chicken foot, Mexican train, and dominoes. Some of these games have scoring aspects and help teach children about numbers.
Some games, like bergen and muggins, determine points by counting the number of pips on the lost tile. Other games, such as domino rumble and block kings, have players blocking their opponents’ play.
There are also a number of scoring games that require players to place dominoes to form a line that is either a rectangle or a triangle. Some of these games, such as tichelo and fives-and-threes, are a type of trick-taking game.
In the computer world, the domino programming language was developed to allow programmers to express algorithms that cannot be expressed in a conventional language. This is because the language does not support for loops and only allows a certain rate of atomic incrementation. This limits the types of programs that can be expressed.
Domino is a popular game among children and adults. It is easy to learn and can be enjoyed by both novices and experts alike. It is a great way to spend time with friends and family, and it can help develop coordination and motor skills.