Video game

Dominoes

An early implementation of the Dominoes boardgame for the ZX Spectrum.

Released: —
Platforms: MSX ZX Spectrum
Genres: —
Developers: —
Publishers: —
Age ratings: ESRB E

About

Dominoes are a family of tile-based games played with pieces. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ends. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also called pips or dots) or is blank. The backs of the tiles in a set are indistinguishable, either blank or having some common design.

The gaming pieces make up a domino set, sometimes called a deck or pack. The traditional European domino set consists of 28 tiles, also known as pieces, bones, rocks, stones, men, cards or just dominoes, featuring all combinations of spot counts between zero and six. A domino set is a generic gaming device, similar to playing cards or dice, in that a variety of games can be played with a set. Another form of entertainment using domino pieces is the practice of domino toppling.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

In China, early "domino" tiles were functionally identical to playing cards. An identifiable version of Chinese dominoes developed in the 12th or 13th century.

The oldest written mention of domino tiles in China dates to the 13th century and comes from Hangzhou where pupai (gambling plaques or tiles) and dice are listed as items sold by peddlers during the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Song (r. 1162–1189). It is not entirely clear that pupai means dominoes, but the same term is used two centuries later by the Ming author Lu Rong (1436–1494) in a context that clearly describes domino tiles. The earliest known manual on dominoes is the Manual of the Xuanhe Period which purports to be written by Qu You (1341–1427), but some scholars believe it is a later forgery.