Domino is a game where players set domino tiles on end in long lines and then tip them over one at a time. This causes the next domino to tip over, and so on. Some people even make very complex designs with dominoes by stacking them in these long chains. It is common for children to play domino, but many adults also enjoy it as well. It is a fun way to pass the time and can be an educational tool, too. Dominoes can be used to teach children about simple patterns. They can also help with hand-eye coordination, and they can help develop dexterity.
Lily Hevesh has been fascinated by dominoes since she was a child. Her grandparents had the classic 28-piece set, and she loved setting them up in straight or curved lines and flicking them to watch them fall, one after another. By the age of 10, she had started a YouTube channel, Hevesh 5, where she posted videos of her creations. Now, at 20, she is a professional domino artist who creates mind-blowing setups for movies, TV shows, and events.
In the world of business, domino is a phrase that refers to the chain reaction that can result from one small trigger. It is a term that was popularized in the early 20th century by a columnist for The New York Times named Ralph Alsop, who wrote that if a domino were to fall over, it would affect everything in its path like a snowball rolling down a hill. The idiom has become widely used in both the business and political worlds to describe a series of events that start with a single action and eventually lead to much larger—and sometimes catastrophic—consequences.
Traditionally, dominoes were made of either bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl or MOP), ivory, or dark hardwoods such as ebony. Today, dominoes are typically made from plastic or polymer materials. They are available in a wide variety of colors and finishes. Some sets have a more unique look, with the tiles made from natural materials.
A basic domino set consists of double-twelve (12 tiles) or double-nine (55 tiles) dominoes. Each tile has a number of spots, or pips, on one end and blanks on the other. Some sets are “extended” by introducing a third or more pips on the ends, adding to the total number of possible combinations.
Usually, each player takes turns placing dominoes on the table until the chain is complete or they can no longer place any more tiles. When this occurs, the last player to have played a domino must “knock” or rap the table with his or her piece, signaling to the other players that it is their turn. In some games, when a player can no longer play, that person “chips out.” The players with the fewest amount of chips remaining win. In others, the players must continue playing until all have chipped out.