Dominoes are small rectangular blocks made of wood or other materials with one to six dots on one face of each domino; all other surfaces remain blank or identically patterned. A set of dominoes typically consists of 28 pieces, which may be used for various games including matching ends of pieces and arranging them in lines or angular patterns; dominoes may also be used as learning tools to help children recognize patterns, colors, shapes and numbers.
Dominoes are typically employed in positional games where one player uses dominoes edge to edge against existing dominoes to form lines or totals, usually counting the remaining tiles left in losing players’ hands at the end of a hand or game to determine who won the round – often combined with multipliers that determine winning scores.
When playing dominoes, each player draws one domino from the stock and makes their initial play. If an unplayable domino is drawn, it must be returned back into play before moving onto the next player’s turn. Depending on the rules of the specific game being played, certain players may draw more dominoes than they are entitled to; these overdraws must be accepted by their rightful player as soon as possible.
As each player makes his or her move, all others take turns at playing. To make his double or other specialized domino playable, a player may only use it by placing it atop another matching piece such as 1-1 or 4-4; this process is known as buying or “byeing.”
Other types of domino games exist, including solitaire or trick-taking variants which were once widely played as alternatives to cards in some regions in order to bypass religious prohibitions against playing them. Some of these variants resemble card games closely.
As a literary device, the domino effect can be an effective way to advance plot in novels or stories by employing events that follow each other in a predictable pattern. Writers should take care not to use this writing device in an immoral manner such as shooting an innocent stranger or having an affair as it could have serious repercussions – legal troubles and social disapproval could result. To prevent this, writers should give sufficient motivation and explanation for their characters to break from social norms so as to facilitate this writing device; otherwise the domino effect will never materialize and readers will lose faith in its integrity!