07/02/2025

Dominoes and the Domino Effect

domino

A domino is a tile with one or more spots (also called pip marks) on its two sides. Dominoes are normally twice as long as they are wide, making them easy to stack when not in use. The number of spots on a domino is sometimes referred to as its rank or weight; a tile with more pips is ‘heavier’ than a tile with fewer.

A domino has an open side and a closed side, called the ‘ends.’ The number of dots on the open end of a domino is often called its value, which is compared with the values of other tiles to determine whether or not a domino can be played. A domino with no dots on either of its ends is known as a blank or wild.

If a player has a match for a domino, he plays it and then moves on to the next domino in his hand, or ‘passes.’ If he has no matches, he may draw more dominos from the stock, which are added to his hand according to the rules of the game being played.

The domino effect is the way a chain reaction leads to one event causing another, and then another, and so on. It is an important principle to keep in mind when plotting a novel, because it helps you anticipate what will happen next and develop a story that makes sense.

Whenever you write scenes in your novel, you should consider the domino effect. This will help your story logically move closer to its goal and ensure that the next scene doesn’t run counter to what happens in the previous scene. For example, if your hero does something immoral in one scene, you need to provide logic and motivation for him to do so, or the readers will lose interest.

Dominoes are also used in art, forming straight lines that form pictures when they fall, or 3D structures like towers and pyramids. They can be arranged in many different ways to create an artistic composition, and the possibilities are endless: straight or curved lines, grids that form shapes when they fall, stacked walls, and even 3D models of cities and countries. You can plan out your own domino art online using a tool such as DominoDesigner, which allows you to sketch out a track and then calculate how many dominoes you will need for your design.

The word ‘domino’ itself has an interesting history. It was first used to describe a type of long hooded garment, and later in the 17th century it came to refer to the playing piece itself. It is believed that the name was inspired by the ebony blacks of the domino pieces and the white of the priest’s surplice, which looked similar to a bishop’s cape. The game itself was probably invented around 1750 in France.