Domino is a game that involves placing small tiles (also called dominoes) in order to create a line of dominoes that eventually falls over. Each domino has a side with an arrangement of dots, or pips, like those on a die, and a blank side. A domino may also feature a special molded shape to make it more attractive. Dominoes come in a variety of colors and shapes, but the most common are rectangular and square.
When a domino is placed, the two matching ends of a tile must touch. This causes the rest of the tiles in the line to be pushed over by the force of gravity. The force of gravity is referred to as the domino effect because it can literally knock over a large number of objects at once. The domino effect is often used metaphorically to refer to the way that one event can trigger a chain reaction of events, or as a symbol of the cascading effects of global finance or politics.
Hevesh designs her domino creations by following a version of the engineering-design process. First she decides on a theme or purpose for the piece, then she brainstorms images or words that correspond to this purpose. Then, she begins to plan out how the piece will look and determine how many dominoes she will need. She then sketches out a basic outline of the layout, including how it will be shaped and what colors she will use.
Once she has a sketch of the domino layout, she begins to put the pieces on the board. She makes sure that the outlines of the dominoes match, and then she carefully places each tile to form the desired layout. Each domino has a number, and the dominoes are arranged into suits according to their numbers. For example, a domino with a number three belongs to the suit of threes, and a domino with a number four belongs to the suit of fours. A domino with a number of zero belongs to the 0 suit.
Dominoes are most commonly made from plastic, but are also available in other materials. Traditional domino sets were carved from natural materials, such as bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory, and dark hardwoods such as ebony. Some modern sets are crafted from a polymer resin that mimics the look of traditional natural materials.
During a domino game, players score points by laying their tiles end to end and then counting the total number of pips on the exposed ends. The player with the most points at the end of a round wins the game. In some games, a domino with a double is counted as one or two (depending on the rule variations) and a double-blank is counted as either 0 or 14.
Most domino games involve laying dominoes in a row and then scoring points by counting the total number of pips on all exposed ends of the rows of dominoes that are left standing. These types of games can be played with two, four, or more people.