Domino is a game played by two or more players using rectangular pieces called dominoes. These are usually double-sided and have a number of spots, or pips, on each end. They can be of different colors, but most are white. Dominoes are often used to play positional games, in which a player places one domino edge-to-edge against another so that the exposed ends of the two pieces match and form a particular total, or they may be used to score points by counting the number of dots on the exposed faces of the two dominoes. The most common domino sets contain 28 pieces (although larger ones exist).
The game was invented by the Italian mathematician Giuseppe Pezzi in the 18th century and spread to France, England, and other parts of Europe. Today, dominoes are found all over the world. They are used in a variety of ways, from educational to religious, and from recreational to competitive.
A person who collects dominoes or plays the game can create amazing structures by arranging them in straight or curved lines, then flicking a single domino to start a chain reaction. These elaborate arrangements can take hours to set up and may include multiple levels. In some cases, players compete in domino shows where they build complex domino sets in front of a live audience.
Although the earliest dominoes were made from clay, modern sets are made from plastic or a similar material. They are often sturdier than those of the past, which could fall over more easily if handled roughly.
There are many different types of domino games, some involving scoring points and others simply blocking an opponent’s play. Normally, when a player cannot place a domino in his hand, he “chips out,” or passes his turn to an opponent. A winning player is the one who chips out first and has the fewest points remaining in his hand at the end of the game.
Lily Hevesh began collecting dominoes when she was 9 years old. She loved setting them up in a line and then watching them fall. She eventually became a professional domino artist, whose YouTube channel features videos of her building spectacular domino setups. She also builds for movies, TV shows, and events, including an album launch by Katy Perry.
The idiom domino effect was coined in 1962 by journalist and columnist Dorothy Alsop to describe the way that a small event may cause a chain reaction that is larger than the original stimulus. The term has since become commonplace, and it is sometimes used to explain the growth of a political movement or an economic situation.
A good example of the domino effect is what happened in Domino’s Pizza after it changed its leadership structure from a traditional management style to one that relied on employees to make decisions. This led to the company being ranked as a top workplace by the Detroit Free Press.