Often called a card, a piece of stone or a ticket, a domino is a small, rectangular block made from black and white squares or tiles. They are typically two and a half times as long as they are wide, and bear identifying marks on one side. The other side of the tile is blank. These can be used for many different games.

Traditionally, European style dominoes were made of ivory, bone or dark hardwoods such as ebony. During the mid-18th century, the domino game spread to France and England. During this time, the name “domino” was first recorded in the Dictionnaire de Trevoux in 1771. It is believed that the word originated from a French term meaning a mask or masquerade mask. Other versions of the game, like those played in China, use Arabic numerals instead of pips.

A domino is typically composed of 28 pieces. They are made of wood, bone or plastic. There are some variants that do not require any matching, and others that require players to chip out both partners. When playing, the players place the tiles in front of them and then knock them down. This is done by pushing the domino forward with increasing force. It is common for these to be placed on the edge of the table.

In a typical game, there are four players. Each player draws seven tiles from stock. They must be laid out in such a way that they form a row of dominoes edge to edge. If the tiles are able to be knocked down, the chain of dominoes will begin to fall. The dominoes must be laid out in a way that they are in a specific position so that a number is visible at either end of the chain.

The domino set is similar to a set of cards, with each tile belonging to a suit. The number of spots on each tile is the value of that side. In some variants, a single tile may belong to more than one suit. Similarly, a tile that is a double is also a double, and one that is a triple is a triple. However, in some versions, a double is required to be the first tile in the line of play.

There are many variations of the game, including scoring and blocking games. The most popular type of domino game is the scoring game. In this game, the goal is to score as many points as possible. During the game, players score one point for each trick they complete. They can also achieve a certain score by making an adjacent face of a double or a triple. This will result in a branching of the line of play.

Another popular domino game is the blocking game. In this game, the players try to take all of the tiles from an opponent. Some variations of the game include the chicken foot, which requires players to occupy all sides of the spinner. Other games include Five-Up, which uses multicolored tiles.