What Is Domino?

Domino is a small, flat block of rigid material that is used as a gaming object. It has a rectangular shape with one side displaying an arrangement of dots or pips, like those on a die, and the other blank or identically patterned. The number of pips on a domino determines its value and the types of games that can be played with it. Dominoes may be stacked on end in long lines, and when a first domino is tipped over, it triggers the other dominoes to fall. Complex designs can be built by this process. The game is usually scored by awarding points to a player who completes a specified number of rounds or totals a certain amount of points.

Dominoes are usually made of wood or a similar material, but plastic ones have become common. They are numbered along their sides and a color-coded label is sometimes applied to distinguish between different types. The most popular domino set is the double-six set, with 28 tiles. This is the standard domino set in most homes, though extended sets have more pips and can be used for more players.

Lily Hevesh began playing with dominoes as a child and loved setting them up in straight or curved lines and flicking the first domino to start the chain reaction. She later turned her passion for dominoes into a career, creating spectacular domino installations and posting videos of them on her YouTube channel, Hevesh5. Hevesh is now a professional artist and creates stunning setups for events and movies.

The concept of dominoes has been incorporated into several popular works of fiction, including The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire. It has also been the basis for a political theory called the domino effect, which states that when one country falls to Communism, other small countries are more likely to succumb to its influence.

Aside from games involving scoring and blocking, dominoes are often used for educational and decorative purposes. They can be arranged in patterns, used as building blocks for structures such as houses and bridges, or simply displayed on tables or other surfaces. Many people enjoy stacking them into neat arrangements or making intricate designs.

Dominoes are also used in a variety of social and business activities, such as counting, sorting, and matching. Traditionally, the player who scores the most points in a given number of rounds wins the game. A typical scoring method involves arranging the tiles so that touching ends match (i.e., a one’s touch a two’s). The number of points awarded depends on whether the exposed pips are equal or not. Doubles count as either one or two, and double-blanks count as 0 or 14.

Domino’s has also used the domino effect in its marketing strategy. The company ran a highly successful campaign on Valentine’s Day, using the Tinder app to promote its pizza delivery service and drive customer engagement. This was a great example of the Domino’s value of championing its customers, and it paid off with a 35x return on advertising spend and an increase in sales of 10%.