Domino is the name of a game played with a set of small rectangular wooden or plastic blocks, each bearing an arrangement of dots resembling those on dice. The dominoes are placed side by side on a table and the players try to place their tiles so that one end of each domino matches the open end of another domino, with some overlap (see diagram below).
When a player places his tile next to another, he “plays” it. The other player may then play a domino of his own, but it has to match the number of pips on one end of the first domino and have the same number on its other end. The new domino then transmits its energy to the next domino, providing the push that causes it to fall over. The process continues with each subsequent domino, until all of them have fallen.
There are many different games that can be played with dominoes. Each game has its own rules, but the basic steps are the same for all of them. The 28 dominoes in a standard double-twelve or double-nine set are first put in a pile, which is called the boneyard or stock. Each player then draws a hand of seven tiles. These are the only ones that he can use in his turn.
The opening domino in each player’s hand is the highest double. Usually, but not always, the player who holds this domino starts the first game of the round. However, the heaviest double also can start play. If no players have a high double, the player holding the heaviest single begins play.
When the player has a double, he must immediately play another tile on top of it, if possible. This is known as a “double tap.” This technique is used in most games to create a line of dominoes, which can be joined together by counting the pips on each end of the dominoes, lengthwise or crosswise, and adding them to the winning player’s score (see Line of Play).
Hevesh, who has more than 2 million YouTube subscribers, is an accomplished domino artist and has worked with celebrities to create domino displays for movies, TV shows, and events, including a Katy Perry album release party. Her most impressive setups involve hundreds of thousands of dominoes, all arranged carefully in a sequence that takes several nail-biting minutes to topple. Hevesh uses a version of the engineering-design process to plan each project. She considers the theme or purpose of the installation and brainstorms images and words that might be relevant.