A domino (commonly referred to as a bone, cards, men or pieces) is a rectangular tile marked with spots or dots (called pips). Usually featuring a line down its center that visually divides it into two squares called ends; each end can have up to six pips down to none or blank spots and their summation determines a piece’s rank or weight; often one with more value is usually given priority.

Domino is an engaging combination of skill and chance that can be enjoyed alone or with others. Unlike most card games, domino does not require a deck of cards or table to play; its pieces are generally twice their width making them easy to stack and re-stack. Domino sets may even allow for new game possibilities!

At the turn of the 18th Century, dominoes crossed from Italy to France where they quickly became popular. Aside from positional games, dominoes could also be used for puzzles and mathematical issues.

Some dominoes games involve placing tiles end to end along a straight or curved line in such a way that their adjacent ends match (one touching, for instance). Some scoring variations allow players to earn points according to how many totals appear on their exposed ends, with play stopping when one player can no longer lay any more tiles and passing to their partner with the least exposed pip totals.

Other dominoes games involve placing long rows of dominoes on the ground in long rows so that when one domino falls it causes similar tiles to fall as a chain reaction. Such arrangements may become very elaborate with thousands of dominoes forming intricate patterns which may take minutes or even hours to topple over. Special blockages (known as firebreaks) may be employed at regular intervals to prevent a single domino from upending more than part of its structure at a time.

Dominoes can also serve as an effective way to test a writer’s ability to construct scenes. If they use pantser writing techniques instead of making detailed plot outlines beforehand, dominoes can help identify scenes which don’t quite fit or don’t add sufficient value for what comes next in their storyline.

There are various materials used for domino production, including bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory and dark hardwoods like ebony. Other less common materials may also include metals (such as brass); ceramic clay; and frosted glass. Many of these materials can be used to produce more aesthetically pleasing domino sets, with woods and metals often featuring natural markings on their surfaces. While modern sets often use polymer material to reduce costs and environmental impact of manufacturing, traditional sets were typically created from more exotic and valuable materials like marble, granite, soapstone or rare natural woods such as cedar for an exclusive appearance and feel compared to sets made with polymers.