Guide
How to Play Dominoes
Draw dominoes is a game of matching and counting. Take seven tiles, join tiles to the open ends of the line, draw from the boneyard when you are stuck, and race the computer to 100 points.
Play the Domino GameThe objective
Be first to 100 points
The Domino Game is draw dominoes for one player against the computer, using a standard double-six set of 28 tiles. A match runs over as many rounds as it takes; the first player to reach 100 points wins.
Each round, you try to empty your hand before your opponent — or, if the round locks up, to be the one holding fewer pips. Either way, the round winner scores the pips left in the loser’s hand, and those points carry forward.
The game is free, runs in the browser, and needs no account. Open the table when you want to play; use this guide for the rules, the boneyard, and the habits that win more matches.
The deal
Seven tiles each, fourteen in the boneyard
The 28 tiles are shuffled. You and the computer are dealt seven each; the other 14 are placed face down as the boneyard. In the very first round of a match, whoever holds the highest double must open with it — with no double in either hand, the heaviest single tile opens instead.
From the second round on, the player who won the previous round leads and may open with any tile. Every deal is a fresh shuffle, so no two rounds play the same.
Controls
Drag, tap, or use the keyboard
Every method moves the same tiles. Pick whichever fits the device in your hand.
Everywhere
Drag or tap-to-play
Drag a tile from your hand onto an open end, or tap it to pick it up and tap the end you want. When a tile fits only one end, a single tap plays it there. Playable tiles are lifted and highlighted so a legal move is never a guess.
When you are stuck
Draw and knock
The Draw button is enabled only when nothing in your hand matches. Take tiles until you can play. If the boneyard empties and you still cannot move, the Knock button appears to pass the turn.
Desktop
Keyboard
Left and right arrows move the selection along your hand, Up or Enter plays the selected tile, and , or . choose the left or right end when a tile fits both. D draws, K knocks, N starts a new match, and M mutes the sound. Every control has a visible focus ring.
The loop
Four steps you repeat all round
Reading the two open ends, then choosing among these, is the whole game.
- 1
Read the deal
The game uses one double-six set — 28 tiles from 0-0 to 6-6. You and the computer are each dealt seven tiles. The remaining 14 sit face down as the boneyard. In the first round the player holding the heaviest tile opens with it; after that, the previous round’s winner leads with any tile.
- 2
Match an open end
The line of play has two open ends showing a pip value. On your turn, play a tile with a half that matches one end — a 4-2 can join an end showing 4 or an end showing 2. Doubles are laid crosswise but the number in play is unchanged. Every tile you place opens a new end.
- 3
Draw when you are stuck
If no tile in your hand matches either open end, draw from the boneyard and keep drawing until you can play or the boneyard is empty. Only when the boneyard is empty and you still cannot move do you knock and pass the turn.
- 4
Win the round, then the match
A round ends when someone plays their last tile — “domino!” — or when the game is blocked and neither player can move. The winner scores the total pips left in the opponent’s hand. First player to 100 points over as many rounds as it takes wins the match.
Rules & scoring
Every rule that decides a turn
The objective
Be the first player to reach 100 points. Points are won round by round: whoever ends a round takes the sum of the pips still in the other player’s hand.
Opening a round
In the very first round, whoever holds the highest double must open with it; with no doubles in either hand, the heaviest single tile opens. From the second round on, the player who won the previous round leads and may start with any tile.
Playing a tile
A tile may be added to either open end of the line if one of its halves matches that end’s pip value. Doubles are placed across the line for readability; they do not branch the layout in this version. The value you must match is always the number showing at the end.
Drawing and knocking
A player with no legal tile draws from the boneyard until they can play or it runs out. A player who still cannot move once the boneyard is empty knocks and forfeits the turn. You may not draw or knock while you hold a playable tile.
Ending a round and scoring
A round ends immediately when a player places their last tile, or when the boneyard is empty and both players knock in turn (a blocked game). On a domino the player who went out scores the opponent’s pips. On a block the lighter hand wins the opponent’s pips; equal pip counts score nothing.
Blocked games
When nobody can move
A round is blocked when the boneyard is empty and neither player can add a tile to either open end. Nobody goes out. Both hands are counted, and the player with the lower pip total wins the round and scores the other hand’s pips.
If both hands have the same pip total, the round is a draw — no points — and the next round is led by whoever held fewer tiles. Because a blocked win still turns on pip count, a light hand is worth steering toward even when you cannot go out.
Common mistakes
Why winnable rounds get lost
Sitting on your heavy tiles
Saving the double six “for later” usually means being caught with it. Unless it sets up a block you can see, get big tiles out of your hand while both ends can still take them.
Playing your last of a number too soon
Shedding your only 5 the first chance you get feels efficient, but it hands the computer control of that end and can leave you unable to answer when a 5 comes back.
Ignoring the count
If you never track what has been played, you cannot tell a live end from a dead one. A quick mental tally of each number is the difference between a guess and a read.
Forgetting you can play for a block
Going out is not the only way to win a round. When your hand is lighter, steering both ends to numbers neither of you can serve ends the round in your favour on pips.
- Get your heavy tiles down early. A 6-6 stuck in your hand at the end of a round is twelve points straight to the computer.
- Watch which numbers have been played. Six of every value exist; once you have seen most of a number, an end showing it is close to dead.
- Keep both ends useful to you. If you can leave the line showing two numbers you still hold, you keep your options open and narrow the computer’s.
- Hold a spare for each end. Playing your only 3 the moment a 3 appears can leave you drawing five tiles later when another 3 comes back around.
- When your hand is light, play for the block. If you have fewer pips than tiles suggest the computer does, closing the game down can win you the round without going out.
- Doubles are hard to shed. Play them while the matching number is still live on an end, not after it has been buried.
- Count the boneyard. Late in a round, knowing only a few tiles are left to draw tells you whether chasing a specific number is worth it.
Where you can play
Same game on phone and desktop
dominogame.app runs in any modern browser with no app to install. Progress stays on the device you played on.
Desktop browsers
Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari all run the game with no plugin. Drag tiles with the mouse, or use the keyboard: arrows to select, Enter to play, comma and period to pick an end, D to draw, K to knock.
Phones and tablets
The layout is touch-first. Your hand, the line of play, and both open ends stay on one screen in portrait. Tap a tile then tap an end, or drag directly. Starting a new match is instant, with no page reload.
Progress on this device
Matches played and won, rounds won, your best winning margin, and your current and longest match-win streaks live in local browser storage. They stay until you reset them or clear site data, and they do not sync between devices.
Still stuck on a rule? Read the Domino Game FAQ or jump in and play.
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