Domino is a game of arranging pieces into a pattern. It’s played with a set of 28 dominoes (also known as bones, pieces, men, cards or tiles), which are each approximately two inches long and feature a line to divide them into two squares. A player’s goal is to make a match between their domino and the one that was last played, and then try to repeat the process.
It’s a simple game that requires no complicated rules, but it still takes skill to play well. It’s similar to chess, but instead of placing each tile into a position on the board, you place them side by side. Then, you use your hand to push and pull the pieces together into a pattern.
In dominoes, each tile has a number of pips, or spots, on each end. The pips on one side represent a value (either six, five or four). A domino with six pips is considered heavy, while one with five pips is lighter.
The game can be played by one player or two players. Each player has a set of seven dominoes and tries to make a match between each of their pieces.
Lily Hevesh has been a domino fan since she was nine years old. She started playing with her grandparents’ 28-pack and soon began posting videos of her mind-blowing installations on YouTube.
Hevesh’s domino designs are a unique combination of art, engineering and physics. She follows a version of the engineering-design process as she works to create her stunning displays, starting by considering her theme or purpose and brainstorming images and words she might want to use in her design.
She then considers the layout of the pieces and how she wants them to fall. She uses straight lines, curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall, and even 3D structures like towers and pyramids.
When she’s finished planning her installation, she puts it to the test: She stacks up a row of dominoes, a wall of dominoes, or a set of dominoes that fall in a circle and lets them tumble, one domino at a time. Her installations take several minutes to fall, but it’s not hard to see how the laws of physics help her achieve her goal.
What’s more, she’s also an expert at creating mind-blowing display that are so intricate, they take hours to arrange. The video below shows her work on a project that involved 300,000 dominoes.
Her domino designs are so incredible, she’s been able to set a Guinness World Record for the most dominoes toppled in a circular arrangement: 76,017.
Using dominoes can be a great way to exercise your creative muscles. It’s easy to get bored with the same old dominoes, so try playing with something new and challenging.
You can even set up a domino course in your backyard or create an elaborate design with books, blocks, or other objects. Just be sure to let them all fall down when you tip the first domino in the line!