Domino is an amazingly versatile game with a huge number of variations and rules. Its versatility has contributed greatly to its enduring popularity. It can be as simple or as complicated as the players choose to make it, and can involve strategy from beginner to expert. It has even been used as an educational tool for students learning math, history, and geography. Domino is an ideal family activity that can provide hours of fun and challenge for all ages.

A domino is a small oblong tile marked with 0-6 pips on each end, used to play a game in which the player tries to find and lay down a piece that has a value matched by that of the pieces at either end of an existing chain. The game is often played with a standard set of 28 tiles, but many sets have been “extended” to include larger numbers of pips on the ends, increasing the number of unique combinations of ends and thus the number of possible tiles.

There are many games that can be played with domino, and most have different rules for scoring. For instance, in some games the players try to get rid of all of their tiles by laying them down in a line that runs from left to right, or they may work toward a specific total, such as 21. Usually, a winning player is the one who has the fewest number of points after all the tiles have been laid.

While most domino games are played by two or more people, there are also solo versions of the game that can be played with just a single player. In addition, the game can be modified by adding additional tiles to the stock, changing the way in which points are scored, or altering the rules for laying down a tile.

One of the most fascinating aspects of domino is how it can be arranged to create art. Professional domino artist Hevesh uses straight and curved lines, grids that form pictures when the dominoes fall, and even 3-D structures like towers and pyramids. When planning a domino design, she considers the theme and how it will be displayed, then carefully considers how each domino should be placed.

When she is ready to begin playing, she draws a domino from the stock and places it in front of her. She then plays it on the table, positioning it so that its matching edges are touching. If it is a double, it is played cross-ways; otherwise, the adjacent sides must match (either identically or in some specified total). The next player then plays a tile onto this, and so on.

When a player has no more tiles to play, he or she “chips out.” This is a term that refers to announcing that the player is finished and cannot make any more moves. However, in some games, a player may continue to play even after chipping out, and is then known as the winner.