Dominoes

Overview

Every game uses the standard double-six set of 28 tiles. Choose a game, then play head-to-head against one computer opponent or at a four-player table against three. The computer comes in three levels: Easy plays any legal tile, Medium scores and sheds heavy tiles, and Hard blocks, denies points and reads your passes. You can also play any of the four games online, one on one.

How a hand works

• Deal: head-to-head, each player gets 7 tiles. At a four-player table, All Fives and Block deal 5 each, Draw deals 6 and Matador deals 7. Tiles left over form the boneyard.
• Lead: the first leader is chosen at random, and the lead then passes to the next player each hand.
• Turns: play goes clockwise. Play one tile against an open end of the layout, draw when the game allows it, or pass when you have no move.
• End of a hand: a hand ends when someone plays their last tile (they domino), or when the table is blocked and nobody can move. In a blocked hand, the lowest pip total wins.

Playable tiles in your hand glow gold. Tap one to make its best move, or drag it onto a glowing end. Pinch or scroll to zoom the table, drag to pan, and double-tap to reset the view.

All Fives

First to 200 points wins. Match a tile to an equal open end. After every tile, add up the open ends: if the total is 5, 10, 15, 20 or any multiple of 5, you score it straight away.

The first double played becomes the spinner. Its top and bottom open once both sides have been played on, so the layout grows into a cross with four ends to count. If you can't play, draw from the boneyard until you can; pass only when it's empty. Going out scores your opponents' remaining pips, rounded to the nearest 5. In a blocked hand the lowest pip hand wins, with the same rounding.

Block

First to 61 points wins. Match a tile to an equal open end. There is no drawing in Block: leftover tiles are set aside, and if you can't play you pass. Going out scores the pips left in the other players' hands. If everyone passes in turn, the lowest pip hand wins the block and scores the losers' total minus their own. A tie for lowest scores nothing.

Draw

First to 61 points wins. It plays like Block, but when you can't play you draw from the boneyard until you can. The last two tiles of the boneyard are never drawn. Doubles are laid crosswise but don't open extra ends. Nothing is scored during the hand. Going out scores your opponents' remaining pips, and a blocked hand is scored as in Block.

Matador

First to 100 points wins. You don't match numbers here: the touching ends must add up to seven. A 6 needs a 1, a 5 needs a 2, a 4 needs a 3, and a blank needs a matador.

The matadors are 0-0, 1-6, 2-5 and 3-4. They're wild and can go on any open end, either way round. The next player then has to make seven against the matador's outer end or play a matador of their own. Doubles are played in line. At a four-player table all 28 tiles are dealt, so you pass when stuck. Head-to-head leaves a 14-tile boneyard, and you may draw instead of playing to keep a matador back. Scoring is the same as in Block.

Playing online

Choose a game, then Player vs Player to join the online lobby. Everyone waiting for any of the four games appears in one list. Challenge a player and pick which game to play; they see your choice before accepting. Online games are one on one. If your opponent leaves, the computer takes their seat so you can finish the match. You can change your screen name and avatar in Settings.