Domino is a game of skill and luck in which players try to make a line of dominoes fall across the table. Each domino has one or more squares, called ends, with numbers engraved in them. These numbers, known as pips, determine the value of each end. The more pips a domino has, the higher its value. The game can be played on many surfaces and with different kinds of dominoes. Some people use dominoes to create works of art such as a line of stacked dominoes or a grid that forms a picture when it falls. The game also has a number of rules and strategies that can make it challenging to win.

In many games, the first person to play a domino is determined by drawing a tile from a stock or pile. This domino is then positioned in the center of the table and the other pieces are placed around it. The player then makes a play on it by matching the pips on the exposed ends with those of other dominoes already on the table. This is known as the line of play. Normally, the domino must match its neighbors in both direction and length to qualify as a match.

The next person to make a play may be determined by the heaviness of a domino in the hand of a player or by specific rules in a game. For example, some games have rules that state that a double or spinner must be used before the next player can make a play. In these cases, the lines of play must be joined by other doubles or spinners.

Some games have special rules that allow players to make other kinds of matches. For example, a domino with two adjacent sides of the same number is considered a double, while a domino with a single side and an adjacent three-pip or six-pip end is a three-pip.

If a player cannot play any of the dominoes in his hand, he “knocks” the table and play passes to another player. In some games, play stops only after a player has “chipped out” by playing all of his remaining tiles. In others, if the play reaches a point that no one can continue, the winner is the person who has the highest combined sum of all the pips on their remaining tiles.

Some people use dominoes to make works of art such as a line of dominoes that makes a picture or a grid that looks like a painting when it falls. Watching someone set up and then toppling a long chain of dominoes can be very satisfying. You can even find videos of people making these works on YouTube. Dominoes have also been used to help teach basic mathematics and science, such as the law of gravity. The name “Domino” is derived from the Latin word dominus, meaning “lord.” It’s often used as a gender-neutral nickname for someone who shows mastery of their domain and understands the effects of each action on the rest of the world.