Domino is a game of skill and chance that has long been a favorite pastime of children and adults. A domino is a small tile with either a number or a blank side that can be matched to another piece with the same pattern. When a single domino is played, it causes the rest to fall in a chain of action that grows longer and more complex as time goes on.
There are many types of domino games, but they are all based on the same principle. The first player begins by placing one of the dominoes on the table with its matching end against an edge of a neighboring piece so that the numbers or patterns match up. After that, the players take turns placing additional dominoes onto the table so that they form a chain that gradually increases in length.
The dominoes are usually made of bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory or a dark wood such as ebony, with contrasting black or white pips that are inlaid or painted on them. In recent years, domino sets have been made from a variety of other natural materials such as marble, granite or soapstone; metals like brass or pewter; ceramic clay; and even frosted glass or crystal. These sets have a more novel look and feel, but they also tend to be much more expensive than those made from polymer materials.
When playing domino, it is best to play on a hard surface so that the tiles can stand up in the proper position and are easy to see. In general, a domino with a number on one of its sides must be played to a domino with the same number or a matching pattern. A blank side may be played to a domino with any of the other three patterned sides, but only if the adjacent sides are identical or form some specified total.
While many people think of domino as a fun game, it is also an excellent educational tool. It can teach the principles of chance and probability, as well as provide an opportunity to practice counting, matching and number identification. It can also help develop motor skills and eye hand coordination.
In real life, the domino effect can have a positive or negative impact. The theory behind the phenomenon is that if you make one change in your behavior, it will cause a shift in related behaviors as well. For example, when Jennifer Dukes Lee began making her bed each day, she found herself doing a few other chores as a result.
Lily Hevesh has been making incredible domino setups for more than a decade. Her YouTube channel has more than 2 million subscribers, and she has created mind-blowing domino projects for movies, TV shows and even events hosted by pop singer Katy Perry. Hevesh creates these amazing sets by following a similar engineering-design process to that used in computer programming.
