Giant DominoesRules Card

What you need

• A set of giant dominoes (a standard double-six set has 28 tiles)
• A flat surface big enough to lay out a long chain: a table, deck, or smooth lawn
• Two to four individual players
• A scorecard to track hand points and running totals toward 100
• A little patience, since the blocks are heavy and slide around outdoors

Set it up

There is no throwing distance in dominoes, so this is really about playing space. A double-six chain can stretch a few feet once it gets going, so give yourself a table, a deck, or a smooth patch of lawn at least three to four feet across. On grass the heavy tiles can lean or tip, so a flat tabletop or paver patio keeps the chain readable and the doubles standing.

Scoring

• The first player to empty their hand wins it and scores the combined pips remaining in all opponents' hands.
• If nobody can play and the boneyard is empty, the player with the fewest remaining pips wins and scores the combined pips in the other players' hands.
• For a tied lowest hand, this garden house version awards no points and redeals. Agree any different tie rule before starting.
• Add hand points to the running total. First to 100 wins unless another target was agreed before play.
• All Fives/Muggins scores during play and is a separate version; do not add its bonuses to this Draw card.

How to play

1. Shuffle and draw the boneyard. Turn all the tiles face down and mix them up. This pile is called the boneyard. Each player draws a starting hand: seven tiles for two players, five tiles for three or four players. Keep your tiles hidden from the others. The rest of the tiles stay in the boneyard.
2. Choose the opening tile. The player with the highest double opens. If nobody has a double, the highest-value tile starts.
3. Match the ends. On your turn, add one tile to either open end of the chain so the touching halves show the same number. A tile that has a four can attach to any open four, and so on. Doubles are laid crosswise (perpendicular), which is mostly for looks outdoors but does mark a spot players sometimes build off of in branching variants.
4. Draw when you cannot play. If neither open end matches a tile in your hand, draw until you find a playable tile or the boneyard empties. Play the matching tile; if none is available and the boneyard is empty, pass.
5. Play until someone goes out or it locks. The round ends the moment one player lays their last tile and calls out, or when nobody can play and the game is blocked. A blocked game happens when both open ends are numbers nobody can match and the boneyard is empty.
6. Score the hand. If someone goes out, that player scores all opponents' remaining pips. If blocked, the player with fewest pips scores the other hands' total. This sheet uses no score and a redeal for a tied lowest hand. Add hand points and play to 100 unless another target was agreed.