Domino is a game played with a set of dominoes where one player places a tile on the edge of another such that the adjacent faces match and form some specified total. The player who makes the first play is known as the “setter” or the “downer.” The word domino comes from the Italian word for crown, and it originally denoted a long hooded cloak worn together with a mask at carnival season or at a masquerade.
The earliest dominoes were rectangular in shape and made of wood or ivory, but today they are mostly made of plastic, resin, ceramics, or pewter. They come in various sizes and colors and can be purchased in sets or individually. There are also electronic games that use an array of LEDs to create patterns and sequences. Some people even use dominoes to make art, such as curved lines that make shapes when they fall, grids that form pictures, stacked walls, and 3D structures like towers and pyramids.
Most domino games fit into four categories: bidding games, blocking games, scoring games, and round games. The most basic domino set contains 28 tiles that are shuffled and formed into a stock, or boneyard. Each player draws seven of these tiles for his hand. Occasionally, a player draws more tiles for his hand than he is entitled to; this is called an overdraw. The overdrawn tiles are usually not used in the game and must be reshuffled before anyone else draws his hand.
Once the players draw their hands, the first player makes a play. This may be a double, or it might be any other type of tile. The first player may choose to play a double either for the opening or throughout the game as part of a strategy. In some cases, the double plays as a spinner, meaning that it can be played on all three sides. In some games, the number of pips on the double determines its value as a spinner.
Whether the first player is playing a double or any other type of tile, he must follow the rules of the specific game being played to establish the count. Normally, the count is established by counting the number of pips on the two ends of the domino that have been placed in the line of play.
In fiction, scene dominoes are ineffective by themselves, but put them together and they naturally influence the next scenes. This idea can be applied to nonfiction, too. A business story, for example, might consist of scene dominoes such as the customer complaint, the employee performance review, and the disciplinary action taken by the company’s leadership. For example, in the CBS reality show Undercover Boss, Domino’s CEO Don Meij sends himself undercover to work at several Domino’s restaurants and delivery services. This allows him to observe how employees handle customers and how the company’s leadership structure is organized. He then identifies areas for improvement.