Draw Dominoes Rules and Strategy

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Draw Dominoes: Rules and Strategy

Rules

Draw Dominoes is a game for 2, 3 or 4 players. It's usually played with a standard set of dominoes (a double-six set) but you can play the game with larger domino sets too.

Place the dominoes dot-side down on the table and mix them up. Each player then takes 5 dominoes each at random. If you are using 3 or 4 players, take just 5 dominoes each. Leave the rest of the dominoes on the table. You will still need them.

As in most games, there are different ways to determine who goes first. In dominoes, usually the player with the highest double goes first by placing that domino on the table.

The next player must connect to that domino by playing a domino with a similar count. For example, if the first player played 6-6, the next player must play a domino that has 6 on one end.

If they player doesn't have a suitable domino to play, they keep "drawing" dominoes from the selection of unused dominoes until they find one they can play. Hence the name "draw dominoes".

If there are no more unused dominoes left to draw from, and the player still can't play, they can just pass their turn and the next player goes.

The game ends when a player uses all of their dominoes or when the game is blocked and none of the players can make a play.

Now it is time to score the game. Each player adds up the dots on all of their remaining dominoes. The player who used up all their dominoes collects those points. If the game ended "blocked" and no player used all their dominoes, the player with the fewest points remaining wins that round and collects the points (minus any points they have remaining.)

You can play until any player reaches a predetermined score, for example, 100 or 200 points.

Video: How to Play Dominoes

Game Variations

You can play with any rules variations you like. Here are examples and suggestions.

• Set a maximum number of dominoes that can be drawn on any one turn. For example, 1, 2 or 3.

• Require that more than one domino is draw at one time. For example, the player must draw 2 or 3 dominoes, then either play (if possible) or pass

• Let blank dominoes be played as any value, decided by the player who uses it (similar to a blank letter in Scrabble)