Day: July 20, 2023

Domino is a small rectangular block of wood or plastic, with one side bearing an arrangement of dots resembling those on dice. The other sides are blank or identically patterned, and the dominoes are sometimes called “tiles” or “bones.” A domino is a fundamental building block of most games of chance, in which players try to place their tiles edge to edge to form a chain that, once completed, will yield points. For many people, domino is a fun way to pass the time, and some even make a career out of it by creating mind-blowing domino setups for movies and TV shows, as well as events and parties. Lily Hevesh, for example, is a professional domino artist who has more than 2 million YouTube subscribers and creates stunning installations for celebrities. She follows a version of the engineering-design process when designing her creations, which are often based on themes like music or architecture. Dominoes can also be used in positional games, where a player places one tile on top of another in such a manner that the exposed ends of the tiles match (i.e., one’s touch ones and two’s touch three’s). Then the player scores the number of pips displayed on the opposing tiles—again, depending on game rules, the total may be anywhere from zero to a multiple of five. Some other domino games involve blocking or scoring, in which the number of pips on a single tile is used to determine its value. For instance, a player may use a double-six to count the number of dots on adjacent two-tile chains; this is known as “stitching up” the ends of the chains. The player who finishes a line of matching tiles first wins the game. There are also a number of domino games that involve strategy and tactical planning, such as solitaire or trick-taking games. These are often adaptations of card games, and were once popular in certain areas to circumvent religious proscriptions against playing cards. As the leader of Domino’s, Doyle has kept the company true to its core values, including “Champion Our Customers.” Throughout the financial crisis, Domino’s paid attention to what its customers were saying and responded in a timely fashion—a strategy that has been critical to its success. While some of the earliest sets were made from bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), or ivory, later sets have been produced in other natural materials such as marble, granite, and soapstone; woods such as walnut, maple, and oak; metals; and ceramic clay. Such materials are typically more expensive than polymer dominoes, but add a sense of quality to the set. They are also heavier in weight, which makes them feel more substantial and sturdy. A few sets of dominoes are even composed of precious stones such as agate or onyx, adding a tactile element to the experience. These sets are often considered collectors’ items. Some collectors collect just a few special dominoes, while others seek to complete an entire set of different shapes and colors.