How to play Draw Dominoes

Draw Dominoes is the game most families mean when they say "let's play dominoes." It uses a double-six set of 28 tiles. Players take turns adding tiles to one line on the table, matching the numbers at its two open ends. Play out your last tile first and you score every dot left in the other hands. The first player to reach 100 points wins.

The deal

With two players, each draws 7 tiles. With three or four, each draws 5.
The rest stay face down in the boneyard.
You lead the first hand. After that, whoever won the last hand leads.

A turn

The leader may start the line with any tile.
After that, a tile must match one of the two open ends. The matching halves touch, and the other half becomes the new end.
A double is laid crosswise. It does not open new directions; it simply shows its number at that end.
If none of your tiles fits, draw from the boneyard one tile at a time until one does, then play it. If you can play, you must.
When the boneyard is empty and nothing fits, you pass.

Scoring

A hand ends when someone plays their last tile. That player scores the total dots left in everyone else's hand.
If nobody can play and the boneyard is empty, the hand is blocked. The player with the fewest dots scores the dots in the other hands. If the fewest dots are tied, nobody scores.
Hands continue until someone reaches 100. In Settings you can play to 50 or 150, and pick one, two or three computer players.

Tips

Get rid of heavy tiles early. A 6-6 left in your hand hands 12 points to whoever goes out.
Play doubles while you can. A double matches only one number, so it is the tile most likely to get stuck.
Keep a mix of numbers. If every tile in your hand shares the same few numbers, one unlucky end sends you to the boneyard.
Watch who draws. A player who draws has none of the numbers on the ends. Leave those numbers open and they may have to draw again.
Count what is out. Each number appears on seven tiles. When most of them are on the table, an end with that number is hard to match.

Today's hand

The Daily Hand is one hand against Amos, with the same tiles for everyone. Win it and your result is the dots you caught; lose it and it is minus what Amos caught. Your first try of the day is the one that counts.

Questions

Can I undo a tile? No. Like at a real table, a tile you lay stays there. On a phone, the first tap picks the tile up and shows where it can go, and the second tap plays it.

Why does Draw keep drawing? The rule is to draw until a tile fits, so one tap does it for you, one tile at a time.

How strong are the computer players? Easy plays almost at random. Normal sheds heavy tiles and doubles, keeps a tile for its next turn and blocks numbers you have drawn on. Sharp also imagines where the unseen tiles could be and plays out the rest of the hand in its head before it picks a tile.

Is this the game with the spinner and scoring by fives? No, that is All Fives. Draw Dominoes is the plain matching game; house rules may come later.

Can I play with my family? Playing with friends over a link, each on their own phone, is coming soon. For now you play the computers.

Do I need an account? No. Your game is saved in this browser, so you can close the page and come back.