A domino is a small rectangular block of wood or plastic marked on one side with dots resembling those on dice. It’s used to play games with other blocks, called dominoes, or to create art pieces like sculptures and mosaics.
When the first domino falls, it transfers much of its potential energy to the next domino in line, providing the push needed to knock it over. This energy travels along the line of dominoes until the last one falls, or the game is stopped by one of several rules.
The rules of domino vary by game, but most use a set of matching tiles and are played between two players on a table. The tiles are arranged in a line on the table, and the open end of each domino is pointed toward the player making the play. The arrangement is called a layout, string, or line of play. When a player cannot make a play, they “chip out” (draw a new tile and pass), or they can “buy” a turn by placing their tile on the table in the same manner as another domino with an open end facing them.
Once the initial tiles are placed, a player makes their plays in turns. The player who makes the first play is referred to as the setter, downer, or leader. The other players must match the pips of their tile with those on the open end of the line of play. Occasionally, it may be necessary to add new tiles to the line of play, depending on the rules of the particular game.
Some dominoes are used for positional games, where each player in turn places a domino edge to edge against another so that their adjacent pips form some specified total. These include games like chinese checkers, double-twelves, and railroad. The simplest positional game for more than one player is the blocking game. The winner is the player who reaches his or her final domino with a higher value before the other player makes his or her play.
For more elaborate domino installations, like those created by artist Hevesh, she follows a version of the engineering-design process. She considers the theme or purpose of a display, brainstorms images or words that she wants to use, and plans out how the dominoes will be arranged in the design. This may involve grids that form pictures, walls, or 3-D structures such as towers and pyramids. Hevesh also tries to limit the amount of space required for the project so that it can be transported and displayed safely. She recently helped set a Guinness World Record for the most dominoes toppled in a circular arrangement, with a total of 76,017 dominoes. It took her several nail-biting minutes to complete the setup, which was 76 feet wide and weighed more than 100 pounds. She was filmed as the dominoes fell, and the video is now on YouTube. She has created similar installations for movies and other events.