A domino is a small rectangular wood or plastic block with numbers on it that are similar to those of dice. The number on each end is called its pip or spot. The most common domino sets have 28 tiles, although larger sets exist and are used for games that require more than four players.
Dominoes are used around the world, including in China, where the game came from. It was likely introduced to the West by French prisoners toward the end of the 18th century. There are many different games that can be played with a domino set, and the rules for each game vary.
The most popular type of domino game involves positioning one domino edge to the other in such a way that the adjacent sides match up, form a sum, or are blank. A single domino may belong to multiple suits, for example the suit of fives and the suit of 0s (or blanks). A double is a tile that has two identical pip types. Doubles can be positioned together to form long chains of dominoes that can be turned over as a group.
When a person plays dominoes, they must be careful not to place their tiles so that they are blocked in any way by other tiles or by their own hand. Blocking a domino can cause the chain to break and stop further play. Normally, a player must “knock” or remove the blocking domino before playing another domino on that line.
A person can create a mind-blowing domino setup using a variety of techniques, such as building up 3-D sections or making a long line of flat arrangements that connects one end of the layout to the other. Lily Hevesh, a 20-year-old artist who has made her name with stunning domino creations, describes how she works on her installations:
Hevesh starts by considering the theme or purpose of an installation and brainstorming images or words that might fit that theme. She then begins to build the bigger 3-D sections first, followed by the flat arrangement. To ensure that each part of the installation will work well individually, Hevesh makes test versions. She then films the tests in slow motion so that she can make precise corrections to any parts of the design that aren’t working.
When the final piece of a domino setup is placed in its correct position, the energy in that section travels to the next one, providing it with the push it needs to fall over. This continues for as many dominoes as are in the arrangement.
In the real world, people can use the principles of the Domino Effect to achieve success in their lives. For instance, if someone commits to cleaning their room or tidies up their house regularly, they are more likely to honor that commitment because it aligns with their self-image and reinforces the idea that they are the kind of person who cleans and maintains their personal space.
