Dominoes

How to play dominoes online

A domino is a rectangular tile split into two halves, each showing 0 to 6 pips (0 to 9 in a double-nine set). The double-six set has 28 tiles. Each player gets 7 tiles and keeps them hidden. The player with the highest double starts by playing it, and play goes around the table. On your turn you must play a tile with a number that matches one of the two open ends of the chain. If you cannot, you pass (in Block) or draw from the boneyard until you can (in Draw).

Here you tap a tile in your hand and the two ends of the chain light up with a dashed outline. Tap the end you want, or drag the tile onto it. If a tile fits only one end it is played straight away. The Hint button shows the move the Hard computer would make, the Sort button reorders your hand, and the Plays list shows who played what. The first player to play every tile wins the hand.

• Pick the number of players (2 to 4), the tile set, the game (Block or Draw) and the scoring.
• The highest double opens the first hand. Later hands are opened by the last winner, with any tile.
• Play a tile that matches a number at either end. Doubles are laid across the chain in real life; here they sit in line, so they are easy to read.
• When you have no play you pass (Block) or draw (Draw).
• Go out first, or hold the lightest hand when nobody can move, and score the pips left in the opponents' hands.
• Reach the target (100, 150 or 200 points) to win the match.

Block dominoes and tranque: what happens when nobody can play

In Block dominoes, called tranque in much of Latin America, nobody draws. If you cannot play you pass, and the game continues. When a player plays their last tile the hand ends and that player scores the pips left in the opponents' hands (Block Dominoes scoring). If the chain closes so that nobody can play, the hand is blocked. Everyone counts the pips in their hand and the lowest total wins the block. In our version the blocked winner scores the opponents' pips, and a tie scores nothing for anyone.

A blocked hand is where good players earn their keep. Every number appears on seven tiles in a double-six set, so when a number has been played many times it becomes dangerous to leave on the board. The closing game is about forcing the block when your hand is light, and avoiding it when it is heavy.

Draw dominoes and the boneyard

In Draw dominoes the tiles nobody holds form the boneyard (also called the stock). With 2 players in a double-six game you each take 7 and 14 remain face down. If you cannot play you must draw tiles one at a time until you can. If the boneyard is empty you pass. Draw hands are longer and luckier than Block hands, and the hidden boneyard makes inference harder, which is why many beginners start here.

With 4 players in a double-six set there is no boneyard if everyone takes 7, so we deal 5 each in Draw with 3 or 4 players and keep the rest face down. In a double-nine set the hand sizes are 12, 9 or 7 in Draw and 12 or 10 in Block, so the chain grows long. The board here wraps into a snake and zooms to fit, so you can read a 55-tile game on a phone.

Muggins and scoring in fives

Muggins, also called All Fives, adds scoring during play. After a tile is played, add the two open ends. A double at an end counts both halves, so a 5-5 at the end counts 10. If the total is a multiple of 5 (5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30) the player who made it scores that total. At the end of the hand the winner collects the opponents' pips, rounded to the nearest 5.

This turns dominoes into a counting game. Players hunt for the 5-5, the 6-4, the 5-0 and the 4-1, and they try to leave an end total that is not a multiple of 5 for the next player. The Normal and Hard computers understand this: they look for scoring plays and avoid handing them to you. Choose Fives in the setup to play it.

4-player dominoes in teams (Latin style)

In most of Latin America, Spain and the Caribbean, dominoes is a partnership game. Four players sit at the table and the two across from each other are partners. Here, seats 1 and 3 play against seats 2 and 4. Partners share a score, and they help each other by playing numbers the partner is known to hold or has been forced to pass on.

When a team goes out, it scores the pips left in the opposing team's hands. If the hand is blocked, the teams compare the combined pips of their two hands and the lighter team wins the block. Online you can play with a friend as your partner, and the computers fill any empty seat. A friend who drops is played by the computer, so the game never stops.

Dominoes strategy: how to win more hands

Play your doubles early. A double can only be played on its own number, so it is the hardest tile to get rid of later. Keep a spread of numbers: a hand with several different numbers can answer more situations than a hand with the same number again and again. Dump heavy tiles when the pip count matters, because a lost hand costs you whatever you are still holding.

Count the numbers. In a double-six set there are 7 tiles of each number. When you have 4 of a number in hand and 3 are on the table, you hold the last one and you control that number. Watch the passes. If an opponent passes on a 3, they hold no 3s, so leaving a 3 at the end blocks them. Hard mode does this for you: it lists every unseen tile, removes numbers a player has passed on, deals the rest at random to the hidden hands and plays each candidate move out to the end of the hand in many imagined worlds.

• Open with a double or a tile from your longest suit.
• Try to leave your own strong numbers at the open ends.
• Block an opponent by leaving the numbers they passed on.
• In Muggins, count the ends before you play and look for totals of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25.
• When the boneyard is nearly empty in Draw, count tiles to decide whether to force a block.

Computer levels and how Hard thinks

Easy plays any tile it can. Normal uses a hand-tuned rule: it dumps heavy tiles and doubles, keeps numbers it can follow, scores in Muggins and uses passes it has seen. Hard goes further with determinization. It knows which tiles are not in its hand and not on the table, it knows which numbers each opponent has passed on, and it deals the rest at random while respecting those facts. It then plays each possible move to the end of the hand in each world and chooses the one with the best average points.

The Hint button uses the same engine, so you can learn from it. If you think it is a strange suggestion, look at the pass list: the move is often chosen to leave the opponent's void number open.

Dominoes online with friends and on one screen

Choose Online friends, then Play to open a room. Send the link on WhatsApp or give the room code. Up to three friends can join a 4-seat table, and computers fill the remaining seats. The host's browser deals the tiles and acts as the referee, and each friend only receives their own hand. If someone loses connection, a computer takes their seat and gives it back when they return.

On the same screen, choose how many people share the device. When the turn passes to another person the hands are hidden behind a screen that says who is next, so nobody sees a hand they should not.

Dominó: jugar al dominó online gratis

Jugar al dominó online gratis aquí es fácil: elige el tranque (sin robar) o el dominó con pozo (robar), de 2 a 4 jugadores y, si quieres, parejas como se juega en el Caribe y América Latina. Puedes jugar contra la computadora, en la misma pantalla o por internet con tus amigos usando un código de sala. Las fichas se dibujan nítidas y la cadena se ajusta a la pantalla del móvil.

Jogar dominó online grátis: escolha o jogo bloqueado ou com compra, de 2 a 4 jogadores, e jogue contra o computador, no mesmo ecrã ou online com amigos através de um código de sala. Há duplas para quatro jogadores, pontuação por pontos ou em cincos (muggins) e três níveis de dificuldade.

Block, Draw and Muggins compared

Block is the sharpest game and the closest to tranque as played in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico: no luck from the boneyard, a lot of reading of the table. Draw is the casual version: slower hands, more luck, easier for a first game. Muggins is a scoring variation that works with either: the pips still matter, but the trick is to score in fives along the way.

Pick Pips scoring if you want the traditional race to 100, 150 or 200 points. Pick Fives if you enjoy quick mental arithmetic. A match to 100 takes about ten minutes against the computer; 200 can take half an hour.