Dominoes Game
Match the numbers, empty your hand and count the score.
Ready? Press Start
No ratings yet. Be the first to rate this game.
Game information
- Price
- Free
- Skills
- Number MatchingCountingAddition
- Players
- 1 player
- Platforms
- Phone / Tablet / Computer
How to play Dominoes
This is the draw game, played with a double six set of 28 tiles. You and the computer each get 7 tiles; yours are face up at the bottom and the computer's are face down at the top. The other 14 wait face down in the boneyard. Press Start: whoever holds the highest double lays it in the middle of the table, and if neither of you has a double, the heaviest tile goes first.
On your turn, every tile that fits glows. A tile fits when one of its numbers matches the number at either open end of the line. Tap it to lay it; if it fits both ends, two glowing spots appear on the table and you tap the one you want. If nothing glows, tap the boneyard to draw a tile, and keep drawing until one fits. When the boneyard is empty and nothing fits, you pass. Lay your last tile to win, or, if nobody can play, the lighter hand wins.
Counting the score
When the game ends, the computer's tiles turn face up and the winner scores the pips, the dots, left in the other player's hand. Counting them is real addition practice: a hand of 6-4, 3-2 and 5-5 is 10 plus 5 plus 10, which is 25. Our pips are colored by number, so every 5 is the same color and a child can match numbers by color before they can count them. If your child likes counting games with a bit of luck in them, snakes and ladders is a gentle place to start.
Tips for winning at Dominoes
Lay your heavy tiles early. A 6-6 left in your hand at the end counts 12 against you. Keep a mix of numbers, so that whatever end the computer leaves, you have something to match. And watch what the computer draws for: if it had to draw when a 4 was showing, it probably has no 4s, so leaving a 4 at an open end may make it draw again. The Hard computer watches you the same way.
Playing the computer
Every game starts against the Easy computer, which lays any tile that fits. Medium lays heavy tiles and doubles first and keeps a spread of numbers in hand. Hard does all that and also remembers which numbers you could not match. You see everything it does: when it draws, its row of face down tiles grows and the boneyard shrinks, and when it plays, its tile appears on the table and the status says which tile it was. Dominoes is a game of luck as well as skill, so even Hard can be beaten with a good hand.
Questions parents and teachers ask
How do you play dominoes?
This is the draw game, the version most families learn first. Each player takes 7 tiles and the other 14 stay face down in the boneyard. The player with the highest double lays it in the middle. Then you take turns adding a tile whose number matches one of the two open ends of the line. If none of your tiles fits, you draw from the boneyard until one does. The first player to lay their last tile wins.
What happens if nobody can play?
When neither player has a tile that fits and the boneyard is empty, the game is blocked. Both players count the pips, the dots, left in their hands, and the lighter hand wins. That is why good players lay their heavy tiles, like the 6-6 and the 6-5, early on.
How do you score in dominoes?
The winner scores the pips left in the other player's hand. In this game the computer's tiles turn face up at the end, so your child can count the dots and check the score. Many families play several games and keep a running total, first to 100 wins, which turns every game into extra adding practice.
Why does my tile not fit?
A tile fits only when one of its numbers matches the number showing at an open end of the line, the outside half of the tile at either end. Every tile that fits glows, so if nothing glows you need to draw from the boneyard. A tile that fits both ends shows two glowing spots on the table so you can choose where it goes.
What does dominoes teach?
Matching and counting for younger players: seeing that three dots match three dots, and counting pips to compare tiles. For older children it adds simple strategy, such as playing heavy tiles first, keeping a mix of numbers in hand, and noticing which numbers the other player could not match. Our pips are colored by number, so a 5 always looks like a 5.