Dominoes — Rules

Block Dominoes for four

Four players, each for themselves, and nowhere to draw from. Moving, adjusting the line, the end of a deal and the ways of scoring are shared by all variants and described in the basics. This page covers what is different from the draw game.

The deal

Each player gets 5 tiles. The other 8 stay out of play and are never revealed.

No move — a pass

There is no boneyard: a player with no move skips the turn. The pass is made automatically, nothing is expected from the player.

A deal ends in a blocked game when nobody can move.

Everyone for themselves

There are no pairs: everyone keeps their own score, and the deal goes to whoever plays their last tile first. The other three have lost, and the points are counted from their hands.

In a blocked game the deal goes to the player with the fewest points in hand. If several are level, the deal is drawn and nobody scores.

Scoring and the match

By default the winner takes the points: they score everything left in the hands of all three opponents. The match runs to 100 points.

Goat scoring — points to the losers — can be chosen when offering a game. Then every loser scores what is left in their own hand, and the first to reach the target loses the match.

When offering a game

• The match target.
• Tiles per hand — from 2 to 7: the set must be enough for four players.
• Scoring — winner takes the points, or Goat scoring.