Domino is a game in which players place dominoes on a flat surface to create lines of domino that will eventually topple. Each domino has identifying marks, called pips, on one side and is blank or identically patterned on the other. Depending on the game, these pips may indicate numbers, letters or symbols. Some dominoes are marked with a single pips, while others have multiple pips. The number of pips on a domino gives it a value, which is also referred to as its rank or weight. Heavier dominoes have more pips and are therefore more valuable than lighter ones.
Dominoes have many different rules and games that can be played. Some of these games have the same name, but the rules vary between them. For example, a set of dominoes might be made out of materials such as bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory or a dark hardwood such as ebony. Other sets are made out of plastic, but these are less common because they can be damaged and can be difficult to stack.
When playing a domino game, the first player must lay down a tile that will match either the end of a previous domino or the center of a double. The player then must place another tile adjacent to the first in order to complete the chain. The chain continues in this manner until all of the tiles have been laid down.
It is important to play on a smooth surface so that the dominoes will not slip and fall off the table. In addition, the surface must be flat to prevent the dominoes from forming an uneven line that is difficult to follow.
In many domino games, the players score points by counting the total number of pips on all the tiles that remain in the losing player’s hands at the end of a hand or the game. This number is added to the winner’s score. There are a few exceptions to this rule. For example, if a domino has both sides of the domino touching each other, the total count is always doubled (e.g., a 4-4 count is 10 points).
When creating her mind-blowing domino installations, Hevesh follows a version of the engineering-design process. First, she considers the theme or purpose of her project. Then, she brainstorms images or words that might be relevant to that topic. Finally, she tests out each section of her setup in slow motion to make sure that the design works properly. This testing allows her to correct any issues before assembling the entire installation. She has created installations involving 300,000 dominoes, and her largest designs can take several nail-biting minutes to complete. One of the reasons that her projects are so successful is that Hevesh relies on a fundamental physical principle: gravity. When a domino is stood upright, it has potential energy based on its position, but as the domino falls, that potential energy converts into kinetic energy and provides the push necessary to knock over the next domino.