Legend has it that dominoes were first played in China as early as the 12th century and were derived from a dice game. Today’s dominoes were invented in Italy in the 1700’s. Some dominoes are black and white, while others are color coded.
Similar to a deck of cards, there are a wide range of games that can be played with dominoes, including games of solitaire.
Playing dominoes as a family, we usually play Single Train. The dominoes are shuffled face down on a table. Players take turns selecting all the dominoes.
Set dominoes on their long edge, so that only you can see them. Arrange your train by aligning the sides of the dominoes with equal value of neighboring dominoes. For example, the domino “7-2” would need to be next to a domino with 7 on one side and a domino with 2 on the other side, like this: 6-7, 7-2, 2-9.
If you have dominoes that don’t fit your train, these are “bones”. Bones can be discarded on the trains of other players when the players cannot play on their own trains.
Be the first to play all your dominoes, in your train and bone pile, forcing your opponents to add up the dots (points) on their remaining dominoes. The lowest score over a set amount of games declares the winner.
This game is fun for all ages. Older players can play the full scoring version while younger players simply enjoy making trains. -By Gracine McFie
