Dominoes are small pieces of wood, plastic, or metal used in the game of dominoes. They can be played as a single game, or they can be a part of a larger set of dominoes called a domino set. These sets can be bought commercially, or they can be made by hand.

There are many types of dominoes, and each type has its own rules. In most games, the players start with a set of 28 dominoes and try to play a series of hands or a game. The first player to place a tile onto the table (known as the “domino”) is the winner of the game.

Before each round or hand, the dominoes must be shuffled, so that no one knows the location of any given tile. The tiles must also be put on edge before the players begin, so that no one can see the value of any of the other player’s tiles.

The players must then draw a tile from their hand, and must then place it onto the table. They can either play a domino that has a number showing on it, or they can play a blank tile. In the case of a blank tile, the player can only match it with another domino that has a number on one side and a blank on the other.

In most games, each domino has two pips, or markings on its sides, and each number has three spots. These pips may be printed on each domino, or they can be painted, which makes them easier to read and more colorful.

As the game progresses, each domino is laid down so that it touches a single end of a chain of dominoes, which gradually gets longer until all the ends are touched. The players then have to lay down a tile so that it touches the next end in the chain and so on.

There are several types of games that can be played with a domino set, including blocking games and scoring games. The most common type is the layout game, which is played by laying down a line of dominoes that is connected in such a way as to create a specific number of points. Other variants of the game are the draw game and the 5s-and-3s game.

The 5s-and-3s game is a scoring version of the block game, which has players trying to score points by attaching tiles from their hand to one end of those already played so that the total sum of the tiles is divisible by five or three. The rules vary among the different versions of the game, but in general, the player who has the most points at the end is the winner.

This game can be played with any set of dominoes, including the small ones that children use or the larger ones that are sold commercially. In addition, many sets are designed so that they can be expanded by introducing additional ends with more spots, increasing the total number of unique combinations that can be achieved.