Dominoes has outlasted empires, crossed continents twice, and still comes down to the same simple pleasure: matching the pips and getting rid of your tiles before anyone else.
How to Play Dominoes
A standard set has 28 tiles (a "double-six" set), each showing two numbers from blank to six. Tiles are shuffled face down and each player draws a hand — typically seven tiles for two players — with the rest left as a draw pile, or "boneyard."
The first player lays down any tile to start the line. After that, players take turns adding one tile to either open end of the growing chain, but the tile's number on the end being played must match the exposed number on the chain. If a player can't make a legal match, they draw from the boneyard until they can play or the boneyard is empty, at which point they pass. A round ends when one player plays their last tile — that player "dominoes" and wins the round — or when the game is blocked (no one can play and the boneyard is empty), in which case the player with the lowest total pip count remaining in hand wins. Many variations add scoring across multiple rounds, but the core matching mechanic never changes.
The History of Dominoes
Dominoes almost certainly originated in China during the Song dynasty. The earliest known written reference appears in "Former Events in Wulin," a text by Zhou Mi written between 1232 and 1298, describing a recognizable domino-style game. Traditional Chinese dominoes were built around every possible combination of two thrown dice, which is why authentic Chinese sets run to 32 tiles rather than the 28 found in the Western double-six set most people play today.
The game reached Europe centuries later, taking hold in Italy by the 1700s, where it became popular in homes and coffee houses before spreading north into France, Britain, and beyond. Historians note the exact connection between Chinese and European dominoes is debated — some believe Italian traders or missionaries carried the Chinese game west, while others argue European dominoes developed independently, since the two versions differ meaningfully in tile count and rules and there's no confirmed direct link. Either way, the Western 28-tile double-six format that emerged in 18th-century France became the version that spread through European colonies and eventually across the globe, and dominoes is now played in some form on nearly every continent. It's part of our classic board game lineup, and like mancala, it's one of the oldest matching games still played competitively today.
Why Play Dominoes on RivalPit
- Free and no download. Dominoes runs instantly in your browser.
- Real-time multiplayer. Challenge a friend with a link, or play a solid CPU opponent.
- Live chat and points. Talk trash mid-match, earn points by playing (never purchased).
- One of 100+ free games on RivalPit, with new games added every week.