WELCOME TO CROSS DOMINOES!
Get ready for a new twist on the classic Draw domino game with Cross Dominoes. When we play Cross Dominoes, the first double that comes up is super special – it’s called the spinner. This means that you can put dominoes on all four sides of it. And here’s the cool part: everyone has to play on all four sides of the spinner! This creates a cross shape, which is how the game got its name. But wait, there’s more – no one can add dominoes outside of the cross until it’s all filled up. Are you intrigued? Let’s learn more!
GETTING STARTED
First things first, we need to set up the game. Take all the dominoes and put them face down on the playing space. Now give them a good shuffle, just like when you mix up a deck of cards. It’s time to start drawing the dominoes! Each player takes turns picking one domino at a time until they have the right number in their hand. If it’s a two-player game, each player gets seven dominoes. And if you’re playing with three or four players, each player gets five dominoes. Now we’re ready to dive into the world of Cross Dominoes!
When playing dominoes, there are certain rules that you need to follow. Let me explain how the game works.
THE PLAY
First, we need to figure out who goes first. The player with the highest double starts the game. This special double is called the spinner. The goal is to place a domino on all four sides of the spinner to create a cross shape.
Let me give you an example. If the first player places a double six, the next player can add a six-five domino on top of it. However, until the cross shape is completed, no one else can play on that six-five.
If a player cannot play on the spinner, they must draw a tile from the boneyard. If the drawn tile can be played on the spinner, they must play it. Otherwise, they have to pass their turn.
Once the cross is formed, we can start building on the branches. It’s important to note that any doubles played after this point are not spinners. Branches are made in straight lines from the center double. You can either play or draw dominoes from the boneyard. But remember, once the boneyard has only two dominoes left, you can no longer draw. We keep playing like this until the round ends.
A round can end in two ways. If you play your final domino, the round is over and you’re the winner. Or, if no one can draw or make a play and the game gets blocked, the round ends, and the player with the fewest pips on their dominoes wins.
SCORING
If you run out of dominoes and win the round, you get points equal to the total value of the remaining players’ dominoes.
The game can get stuck sometimes, and when it does, the person with the lowest score is actually the winner. What they do is subtract their score from the total score of everyone else who was playing, and that’s how many points they get. So let’s say the winner has a score of 13, and the other players’ scores add up to 30, then the winner would get 17 points.
You keep playing rounds like this until someone reaches 100 points. The first person to reach 100 points is the winner of the whole game. So keep going until that happens. Keep playing rounds and adding up the points until someone hits that magic number.