A domino is a small rectangular block with one or more blank or marked faces, resembling dice. A set of these blocks contains 28 pieces, or dominoes. A person who plays games with dominoes or is interested in them may also be called a domino fan. People enjoy arranging the dominoes in long lines, with one tile on each end of the line. When a domino is tipped over, it causes the next one in the line to tip, and so on. People can even make very complicated designs with these little blocks.
A popular domino game is Draw. Each player takes a turn placing a domino on the table. The first tile placed must match a value of the existing ones. Once the first domino has been matched, players may take tiles from the boneyard until there are no more matches or the last two dominoes on the table have been played. The remaining dominoes must be arranged to form a cross or line that is adjacent to the first domino played. Several variations of this game can be played.
Dominoes are sometimes used to model certain systems, such as electrical circuits. This type of modeling helps to teach students about the relationship between current and voltage in a simple way. Similarly, authors use the idea of domino effect in their novels. The idea is that a domino can be tipped and the rest of the chain can fall, resulting in a change in a system. A domino effect can have many different results, from positive to negative.
There are many ways to use the concept of domino in writing a story. For example, a domino effect could be the main character’s bad behavior leading to disaster for everyone else. The key is to ensure that your story flows smoothly and that there are no hiccups in logic. A story that has a lot of hiccups in logic will cause readers to lose interest.
Some people like to make dominoes into interesting shapes, and others may create a pattern with them by lining them up in rows. This activity has led to the development of games that involve stacking dominoes in order to make a particular shape or to have a specific number of tiles in a row. People who are very skilled at domino play often compete in a variety of different domino events, such as domino championships.
The word domino and the related game both appear in English around 1750. An earlier sense of the word, though, denoted a hooded cloak worn together with a mask during carnival season or at a masquerade. Some artists have used dominoes to create incredible sculptures and other art forms. Watch a video of Hevesh, who has a very impressive domino gallery on her website. Hevesh is an expert at creating complex domino arrangements. She makes sure that each piece works before putting the whole thing together. She has worked on projects involving 300,000 dominoes and helped to set the record for most dominoes in a circular arrangement.
