How to Play Dominoes

Welcome! Here's everything you need to know to jump into a game — how the app works, and the rules of the game itself.

Part 1: Playing on the App

Starting a Game

On the Dominoes screen, pick your number of players (2, 3, or 4), then choose how you want to play:

• Practice Table — play by yourself against computer opponents.
• Online Table — tap Create a table to start an online game and invite friends.
• Join a Table — tap the invite link your host sends you, or type their 4-digit table code and tap Join.

Playing Against the Computer

The easiest way to jump in:

1. Pick Practice Table, choose your number of players, and tap the big button.
2. Your hand is dealt right away — no waiting.
3. Any empty seats are filled by computer players automatically.
4. You can save your game and come back to it later (see below).

Playing Online

Hosting a game:

1. Pick Online Table, choose your number of players, and tap Create a table.
2. You'll land in a lobby showing your table code — a 4-digit number like 4827. Tap the code to send an invite: your friends just tap the link and land at your table, no typing. The code is in the message too, in case they'd rather type it.
3. As the host, you choose the game rules for the table — like the winning score. Everyone plays by your settings.
4. Start the game when everyone's ready. Any empty seats are filled by computer players so the game isn't held up.

Joining a game:

1. Tap the invite link your host sent — it opens the app (or the website if you don't have the app) right at their table. If you've played before you go straight in; if not, type your name and tap Join.
2. No link? Type the 4-digit table code your host gave you into Join a Table and tap Join.
3. If the code doesn't match a game, you'll see "No game found with that code" — double-check the digits with your host and try again.
4. Once you're in, you'll see everyone else in the lobby as they join.
5. Dropped out of a game? Enter the same table code again and you'll get your seat back.

During the game: on your turn, drag a tile onto a matching spot on the board. If it's not your turn, the game just won't let you move — simply wait for your turn.

If You Get Disconnected

Don't worry if your connection drops for a moment — your seat is held for you. If you've been away for a bit, you'll see a "You still there?" message with a Yes! button — just tap it to stay in your seat. If you don't respond in time, a computer player may step in for you so the game can keep going. Reconnecting brings you right back to your seat.

Saving and Loading Games

• Playing against the Computer: Save your progress anytime to one of 5 save slots, and load it later to pick up right where you left off.
• Playing Online: The host can save the game with a name, and it keeps itself up to date automatically as the game goes on — so a dropped connection or closed app won't cost you your progress. Look for the saved game from the home screen to jump back in.

Leaving in the Middle of a Game

If you accidentally hit your device's back button (or your browser's back button) during a game, you'll be asked to confirm before you're taken out — just to make sure you don't lose your spot by mistake.

Reading the Game Screen

• Top of screen: Each player has their own spot showing their name and score.
• Bottom of screen: "Remaining Bones:" followed by everyone's name and how many tiles they still have — you can see how many tiles your opponents have left, but not what they are.
• Game Log (top-right button): a running history of what's been played, oldest first — it reads top to bottom like a story and keeps itself scrolled to the latest entry. Each board update is numbered (#1 was the first play of the game), and the All / Plays / Scores buttons filter what you see.
• Settings (top-left button): game options, including how you'd like your own score displayed on screen.

The Leaderboard

Win an online game and you might make the Leaderboard — the top 10 highest winning scores, with names and dates. Find it on the home screen or in Settings. Only real people make the list; computer players don't count!

Part 2: How to Play Dominoes

This app uses a standard double-six domino set — 28 tiles, one for every pairing of numbers 0 through 6 (including doubles, like 3-3, and the blank, 0-0).

Setup

• 2 players: each player starts with 9 tiles.
• 3 or 4 players: each player starts with 7 tiles.

The rest of the tiles form a face-down pile called the boneyard.

How a Turn Works

1. On your turn, play one tile from your hand that matches a number showing at either open end of the layout on the board.
2. If you don't have a matching tile, draw from the boneyard until you get one you can play (or the boneyard runs out, and you pass your turn).
3. Play moves around the table in order.

The Spinner

The first double played becomes the spinner — a special tile that lets the layout branch off in an extra direction instead of only growing in a straight line. That's why the board sometimes "snakes" around instead of forming one long row.

Scoring

Whenever your play makes the total of all the open ends on the board add up to a multiple of 5 (5, 10, 15, 20, and so on), you score that many points right away. Your host's chosen settings may add a couple of friendly variations to this — for example, needing to reach a certain number of points before they start counting toward your total. Whatever's active for your table will show clearly in Settings.

Ending a Round

A round ends one of two ways:

• Someone plays their very last tile — they win the round and score points based on what's left in everyone else's hands.
• No one can move — if every player is stuck and the boneyard is empty, the round ends and points are settled based on who's holding the fewest tiles.

A new round starts automatically, and your scores carry over from round to round.

Winning the Game

Play continues over several rounds until someone reaches the winning score set for your table. First one there wins the game!

Quick Reference

Term	Meaning
Boneyard	The leftover pile of tiles you draw from
Open end	A number at the edge of the board you can match
Spinner	The special double that lets the board branch
Going out	Playing your last tile to win the round
Locked board	No one can move; round ends by tile count

Have fun, and good luck!

Back