Domino Games and Variants
The same box of tiles plays dozens of games. The four that matter for most households are Block (no drawing), Draw (the usual game), All Fives (score during play on multiples of five) and Mexican Train (thirteen rounds, personal trains, a double-twelve set). Chicken Foot and Five-Up are the popular next steps.
The games at a glance
| Game | Set | Players | What makes it different | Scoring |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block | Double-six | 2–4 | No drawing at all. If you cannot play, you pass. | Pips left in hand at round end |
| Draw | Double-six | 2–4 | Draw from the boneyard until you can play. The default game. | Pips left in hand at round end |
| All Fives (Muggins) | Double-six | 2–4 | Score during play whenever the open ends total a multiple of five. | Running score, to 250 (2p) or 200 (3–4p) |
| Mexican Train | Double-twelve | 2–10 | Thirteen rounds, a personal train each, plus one shared train. | Lowest cumulative pips after 13 rounds |
| Chicken Foot | Double-nine or -twelve | 2–8 | Every double must be surrounded by three tiles before play continues. | Lowest cumulative pips |
| Five-Up | Double-six | 2–4 | All Fives with a spinner, so the layout has up to four scoring ends. | Running score, usually to 150 or 200 |
Chicken Foot
Chicken Foot is Mexican Train’s louder cousin: the same round-per-double structure, but every double played stops the game until its open arms have been filled, forming the three-toed foot the game is named after.
- Usually played with a double-nine or double-twelve set, two to eight players.
- Each round opens with the next double down, exactly as in Mexican Train.
- The double that opens a round takes tiles on all four of its arms before any of them may be extended.
- When a double is played later in the round, the layout freezes: its three open arms must all be filled, forming the "foot", before normal play resumes.
- If nobody can complete the foot, players draw one tile and pass if it does not help.
- Scoring counts the pips left in your hand, lowest total wins, but the double blank is priced at 50 points rather than zero.
Spinners, and why they change everything
A spinner is a double the line may branch from, giving the layout more than two open ends. Pagat’s Block and Draw rules do not use them, since the layout is one line with two ends, but they are extremely common as a house rule, and they are the defining feature of Five-Up.
They matter most in scoring games. With two ends, an All Fives layout can total at most 24. With four ends it can reach far higher and score far more often, which turns the game from a gentle points trickle into something much sharper. If you are playing All Fives and it feels like nobody ever scores, adding a spinner is usually the fix.
Variant questions
What is the most common domino game?
- The Draw game: deal seven tiles each, match the open ends, draw from the boneyard when you cannot play. Pagat notes it is "often referred to as simply dominoes". Block is the same game with the boneyard removed.
What is the difference between Block and Draw dominoes?
- Only the boneyard. In Draw you take tiles until you can play; in Block there is no drawing and you pass instead. It sounds minor and is not: about six in ten Block rounds end blocked, against fewer than two in ten Draw rounds.
What are the rules of Chicken Foot dominoes?
- Chicken Foot follows Mexican Train’s structure, a round for each double descending, with one extra rule: a double played during the round freezes the table until its three open arms have been filled to form the "foot". The double that opens a round is the exception and takes four. Lowest cumulative pip total after the final round wins, counting the double blank as 50. Full rules and the deal table are on the Chicken Foot page.
How many domino games are there?
- Pagat lists over 150, and that is only the ones with published rules. The half-dozen on this page cover essentially everything a household is likely to play.