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The Block Dominoes game

The Block Domino game is one of the games with dominoes. We describe The Block Dominoes rules for the game implemented at Askalink games

Number of players

The game is for 2 players.

Object of the game

The first player to score agreed-upon number of points (100 - 500) wins the game.

The deal

At the beginning of a game, the hands are dealt by randomly shuffling all dominoes and distributing 7 dominoes (also called bones) to each player. (9-bone initial hand can be also selected upon table creation). The remaining dominoes are placed in the boneyard and are not used in the game play. If this is the first hand of a game, the player with double six must play it first (also see options below - random 1st hand). If no one has the double six, the call goes out for double five, then double four, and so on until one of the players can produce the called for tile. Players then take turns. In subsequent hands, the winner of the previous hand starts the next game (Options: rotated start). When leading in a hand other than the first one in the game, the choice of play may be any tile in the lead player's hand.

The game play

Once the lead domino has been played, the dominoes that may be played are constrained to match the exposed ends of the chain.

If the tile is not a double it is placed horizontally. If the tile is a double, it is placed vertically.

Players take turns. If a player does not have any dominoes which have a number of spots that matches one of the exposed ends of the chain, he must pass his turn. No dominoes are drawn from the boneyard. If a player has at least one domino that matches one of the exposed ends of the chain, that player must play a domino and cannot pass. Play may proceed off both ends of the chain, or from the exposed ends of the first double that is played once that double has had dominoes played from both its sides (Spinner option). That double is referred to as the spinner because the chain sprouts from all four sides of the domino. At most there will be four ends of the chain exposed; no other double may have additional dominoes played from it.

The game end

The game ends when one player goes domino (plays his last bone) or when all players have consecutively passed.

The player who dominoes or, if everyone passed, the player with the least number of spots, scores points equal to the number of spots on the stones in the hands of all other players.