Domino is a traditional game where players lay tiles on the table, trying to score points by matching pips on each end. It is similar to dice or playing cards and has many variations, including a variety of layout games.

The most basic domino games involve a number of players, and the players each draw from a stock of shuffled pieces on the table before the game begins. The leader, determined by drawing lots or by whose domino has the highest total pip count, plays first, and then the other players take turns playing their own pieces until someone is out of dominoes, which may happen at any time during the game.

A player can only lay down one tile per turn unless another player has already laid it. During the game, other players will try to knock out (play) their dominoes, or rap the table, so that they cannot play more. Occasionally, the game will break down into multiple rounds.

During each round, the winner is the player who has the most dominoes remaining at the end of the game. If two players have equal numbers of dominoes left at the end, each person takes all of their remaining tiles and adds them to his or her own hand.

There are a number of different types of domino games, but the most common is block-and-draw, where a set of dominoes is shuffled face down on the table and the players draw from it. Usually, seven tiles are drawn, and the players then begin to play.

Like dice, dominoes are rectangular with a line down their middle that separates the ends into squares. Each end is either blank or has a number of spots (called pips) on it, ranging from zero to six. The highest-value piece in a domino set has six pips on each end.

It is possible to create a domino set that has more pips on each end than in a conventional set. The resulting sets are known as extended domino sets. Examples of such sets include double-nine (55 tiles), double-12 (91 tiles), and double-15 (136 tiles).

These are the most commonly available commercially, though there are other larger sets for use in longer games. Larger sets can also be made from blank ends without any pips.

In some games, each player’s domino is scored by awarding a fixed number of pips to the opponent’s tiles. These numbers can be calculated by counting the number of pips on each side of a double-six or by using the double-six as an indicator of the total number of pips on all other dominoes in the game.

The number of pips on the ends of a domino determines the value of the tile; a double-six has a higher value than a single-six. Other types of pips, called blank pips, are not assigned any value.

It is often said that the domino chain represents how one small action generates enough energy to topple much larger dominoes. In the same way, a single focused effort is often the key to breaking through to a new level in a business or career.