How to play Dominoes

Match tiles to the open ends, clear your hand, and collect points across rounds to reach the match target.

At a glance

• Players: 2–4; the number of players determines the available rules.
• Match length: several rounds until a player or team reaches the chosen target.
• Modes: two-player draw; three-player blocked; four-player blocked, either 2 vs 2 or every player for themselves.
• Play in a private lamma, at public tables, or in bot practice; bots can also join your lamma.

Goal

Be the first player or team to reach the match target. In 2 vs 2, partners sit opposite each other and share one score.

On your turn

1. Drag a tile onto an open end it matches, or tap the tile and then that end.
2. With two players, if no tile fits, draw from the boneyard until you can play or the boneyard is empty.
3. If you have no playable tile and no tiles remain to draw, pass. With three or four players there is no boneyard, so pass when you cannot play.

The first round opens with the highest double held by any player; if nobody has a double, the highest-total tile opens. After a won round, its winner opens the next round with a tile of their choice.

Ending and scoring

A round ends when a player empties their hand or everyone passes consecutively because nobody can move.

• Every player for themselves: an empty hand wins. If play is blocked, the player with the lowest remaining pip total wins. The winner earns the total pips left in all other players' hands.
• 2 vs 2: an empty hand wins for that player's team. If play is blocked, add both partners' remaining pips; the team with the lower combined total wins. The winning team earns only the pips left in the opposing team's two hands, not their own partner's pips.
• Ties: if the lowest individual total is shared, or the teams have equal totals, the round is tied and nobody scores.

After a blocked team win, the winning partner with fewer remaining pips opens the next round. The match ends when a player or team reaches or exceeds the target.

Modes

Two-player draw

Each player starts with 7 tiles. The remaining tiles form the boneyard. Draw only when you cannot play. The default match target is 71.

Three-player blocked

The double blank is set aside, and each player starts with 9 tiles. There is no boneyard and everyone plays for themselves. The default match target is 101.

Four-player blocked

Each player starts with 7 tiles and there is no boneyard. The default is 2 vs 2, with partners opposite each other. The host can instead choose Every player for themselves. The default target is 101 in either mode.

Host options

Before the match starts, the host can choose a target of 51, 71, 101 or 151 points. The target is locked while the match is in play.

In a lamma, the host can set turns to 30, 45, 60 or 90 seconds, or choose Open for no turn time limit; the default is 45 seconds.