Dominoes are rectangular tiles that are each marked with one or more pips (dots). Each domino is usually twice as long as it is wide. When two dominoes touch, their exposed ends match in value (one’s touch one’s, and two’s touch two’s). Each side of a domino is assigned a number value, and the total of the pips on both sides of a domino is its rank. Dominoes are commonly used to play a variety of games, with scoring based on the number of pips on opposing player’s tiles.

When a domino falls over, it creates a chain reaction that pushes other dominoes forward, just like a person’s success or failure can have a ripple effect on the people around them. In the world of business, we often hear about the Domino Effect when a small success can cause other successes to occur. We also see the Domino Effect in personal development, with one new behavior having the power to influence other parts of our lives.

Lily Hevesh started playing with dominoes when she was 9 years old. She loved the thrill of creating a line of curved or straight dominoes and flicking them to watch them fall. Now, she’s a professional domino artist, making incredible sets for movies and events and posting videos of her work on YouTube.

She’s learned that it’s important to take time to test each section of a domino set before she puts it all together. When she finds a part that doesn’t work, she goes back and makes a change. She’s found that this process allows her to complete projects quickly and more accurately.

Hevesh says that one of the most powerful lessons she’s learned from her work is how to prioritize tasks. Her grandfather taught her to “pick the main domino and let it fall.” He emphasized that one task could only be completed that day, but if it was done well it would set the stage for other accomplishments.

Dominoes are traditionally shuffled before a game or hand begins. The resulting collection of tiles is called the boneyard. Normally, players are allowed to choose from the boneyard as they go, although some rules require that players chip out when they can’t play anymore. The winner of a game is the player who has played all of their dominoes or none at all, a state known as going out.

In some games, a player may be awarded points for attaching a tile to the end of a domino that has already been placed on the table. The sum of the pips on the end of the new tile must be divisible by five or three, and the player is awarded points for each of these divisors.

This is the most common way to score a domino game, and it works the same for all types of dominoes. Other games, however, do not use this system and award points based on the total of all the pips on a player’s remaining tiles.