Games / Domino Games
Domino games
Lay a tile, match the number, keep the line growing. We explain how dominoes work and the classic games people play around a table, and our domino solitaire puts the old All Fives scoring on a seaside boardwalk you can play in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
Dominoes
Match the ends, count the fives · 1 game
More tile games
Pairs, threes and stacks · 4 games
10 minSavesMahjong Cloud Steps
Mahjong solitaireMatch free tiles and climb from a tea garden to the clouds. Every deal can be won, with a holding tray, hints, shuffle and undo whenever you want them.
How dominoes work
A domino is a small tile split into two halves, each marked with a number of dots called pips, from blank up to six in a standard set. A double six set has one tile for every pairing, 28 tiles in all, from the double blank to the double six. Bigger sets go up to double nine (55 tiles) or double twelve (91 tiles) for longer games.
Almost every domino game is built on one move. Tiles go down end to end in a line, and the tile you add has to match the number on the open end it touches. A 3 end takes a tile with a 3 on it, and the other half of that tile becomes the new open end. Doubles are usually laid crosswise. The tiles nobody has drawn yet sit face down in the boneyard.
Classic domino games
Draw dominoes
The everyday game. Each player takes a hand of tiles and you take turns adding to the line. If you can't play, you draw from the boneyard until you can. The first player to empty their hand wins the round and scores the pips left in everyone else's hands.
Block dominoes
Like Draw, but there's no drawing. If you can't play, you pass. That makes it a game of shutting numbers down, because a player holding no 4s is stuck the moment every open end shows a 4.
All Fives (Muggins)
The scoring game. After each play you add up all the open ends, and if the total is a multiple of five, you score it. A double counts both halves on its end, and the first double laid can often be played off on all four sides, so good players hunt for plays that land the count on 10, 15 or 20.
Mexican Train
A party game played with a double twelve set. Each player builds their own line out from a central double, and a shared line down the middle is open to everyone. If you can't add to your own line, it opens up for the other players too.
Domino solitaire: playing alone
Dominoes is usually a table game, but it makes a lovely puzzle on your own. In Domino Boardwalk there's no opponent's hand to guess at. Instead, the dominoes sit face up in a layered pile on the pier, and a domino is open when nothing is on top of it. One double starts the boardwalk, and you lay open dominoes onto its open ends, matching numbers. Clear the whole pile to finish the level.
- Tap an open domino that matches an open end and it lays itself along the boardwalk.
- Nothing fits? Tap the boneyard to draw a domino into your hand. Each shell under the boneyard is one draw.
- From level 12 the first double you lay becomes a crossroads with two more open ends, and later every double does.
- Every pile is built backward from a real winning game and checked by a solver, so every level can be cleared.
Seven stretches of pier bring in new pieces as you go: tide tiles that dip under water, gulls that rest on a domino for a few plays, a starfish double that counts twice, double nine dominoes and two boardwalks at once. The Daily Boardwalk is the same pile for everyone that day, with its own leaderboard.
How fives scoring works on the boardwalk
Domino Boardwalk uses All Fives. After every domino you lay, we add up the open ends. If the total is a multiple of five, you score that total times ten, so ends adding up to 15 are worth 150. The sign at the top always shows the current total and how far it is to the next five.
| Open ends | Total | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 3 and 2 | 5 | 50 |
| 6 and a 2 double | 10 | 100 |
| 5 double and 5 | 15 | 150 |
| 5 double and 5 double | 20 | 200 |
Laying any domino is worth 20, each play in a run without a draw adds 60, and clearing the pile adds 800 plus 50 for every shell you never drew.
Domino tips
- Count before you tap. If the ends add up to 12, a play that raises one end by 3 makes 15. Choose which end to grow, not just whether a tile fits.
- Doubles are your big chances. A double counts both halves on its end, so a 5 double on its own adds 10 to the count.
- Don't draw while you still have a play. In the table game it gives away information. On the boardwalk it breaks your run and spends a shell worth 50 at the end.
- Dig into the tall stacks early. A domino you can see but can't reach only helps once the ones on top are gone.
- Keep a spare. Hold one hand domino with a common number so it can rescue you when nothing on the pile fits.
- In Block, track what's gone. Once five or six tiles of a number are on the table, an end showing that number is close to dead.
Questions
How many tiles are in a set of dominoes?
A double six set has 28 tiles. A double nine set has 55 and a double twelve set has 91.
What is the boneyard in dominoes?
The face down tiles left over after everyone takes a hand. In Draw dominoes you take from it when you can't play.
How do you score All Fives?
After each play, add up the open ends of the line. If the total is a multiple of five, you score it. Doubles count both halves. In Domino Boardwalk you score the total times ten.
Can you play dominoes alone?
Yes. Domino Boardwalk is a domino solitaire: you clear a layered pile of face up dominoes by laying them onto the open ends of a growing line.
Can every Domino Boardwalk level be won?
Yes. Every pile is built from a real winning game and checked by a solver, along with every daily and weekly festival.
Can I play dominoes on my phone?
Yes. Domino Boardwalk runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers, and your progress saves as you play.