Welcome to Domino Loo!

In Domino Loo, you and your friends can enjoy a fun game of dominoes. It’s perfect for 2 to 4 players, and the objective is to win rounds and earn chips or points. If you’re playing for points, the first person to reach 15 wins!

Want to add even more excitement? You can turn Domino Loo into a bidding game! Just agree on an ante before you start playing.

Let’s Get Started: Setup

If you’re playing with money or chips, each player must put an ante into the pot. Every player puts in one chip, except the dealer who puts in 5. Once the pot is emptied, everyone must ante again to keep the game going!

When we start a game of dominoes, the first thing we need to do is decide who will be the dealer. This is done randomly, so there’s an element of surprise and excitement right from the beginning. Once the dealer is chosen, the game begins.

The dealer has an important job – shuffling the dominoes and creating what we call the boneyard. The boneyard is a collection of dominoes that the players will draw from throughout the game. It’s like a hidden treasure waiting to be discovered.

Once the boneyard is created, each player will receive five dominoes. These are the tiles that they will use to play the game. It’s a fair and equal distribution – everyone gets the same amount to start with.

But wait, there’s more! The dealer will draw an extra tile called the turn-up. This special tile determines the trump suit for the game. The trump suit is like the superhero of the game – it has special powers that can change the course of play. The trump suit is determined by the higher number on the turn-up tile, and it will stay revealed throughout the game.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. If a player doesn’t like the tiles they’ve been dealt, they have a choice. They can either fold, which means they won’t play this round, or they can exchange some of their tiles for new ones. It’s a tough decision to make, as there’s always a risk involved. Will the new tiles be better? Or will they be worse? It’s a gamble, and it adds an extra layer of strategy to the game.

Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, each player has a turn to make their move. They can either call a miss, fold, or pass. Each decision has consequences and can impact the outcome of the game. It’s all about making the right move at the right time.

If I make a mistake in a 2 or 3 player game, I have to get rid of all my tiles and get 6 new ones from the boneyard. I’ll put one of those new tiles face-down with my old ones. Those tiles are out of the game for this round. Up to two people can make a mistake.

If I make a mistake in a 4-player game, I have to get rid of my hand and draw the remaining 7 tiles. I have to discard 2 of those tiles. Only one person can do this.

Once I make a mistake, I can’t change my mind and stop playing.

If I fold, I have to get rid of my hand without drawing any new tiles. This means I’m not playing in this round and I can’t win any money from the pot. However, it also protects me from being looed (which I’ll explain later).

When it’s my turn to call as the dealer, I have a choice to make. I can decide not to miss and take the trump tile that’s been revealed, while discarding one of my own tiles. If all the other players have folded, then I get the whole pot.

In a game with four players, if everyone except one player has dropped out and that player has chosen to miss, I can still call to play for the pot. But here’s the catch: if I win, I won’t take anything from the pot. The important thing is that the other player doesn’t win it all automatically.

Ranking the Tiles

I’m going to explain how the tiles work in a game. Each tile has two numbers on it, ranging from blank to 6. The numbers determine the suit and rank of the tile. The suit is the chosen number, while the rank is the other number. The blank is the lowest rank and 6 is the highest. When a player plays a tile, they can choose either suit, and the other number determines the rank within that suit. The only tiles that cannot be chosen are the ones with the trump suit on them. Those tiles always belong to the trump suit.

Now, let’s talk about gameplay.

The game starts with the player to the left of the dealer. The first trick can be led by any tile, but if it’s not a trump tile, the player must announce the suit.

When it comes to playing a trick in this game, there are some rules you need to follow. Let me break them down for you:

1. If you have more than 2 trumps in your hand, you must play a trump.
2. If you just won a trick, you must lead the next one with a trump if you have any.
3. All players must follow suit if they can. In other words, they have to play a card of the same suit that was led.
4. If you can’t follow suit, then you must play a trump if you have any in your hand.
5. If you can’t do either, you’re allowed to play any tile you want.

A trick is won by either playing the highest-ranked trump or, if there are no trumps, by playing the highest tile of the suit that was originally led.

Once all tricks have been won, the round is over.

SCORING

Scoring happens after the round is finished. Here’s how it works:

• If a player didn’t win any tricks during the round, they have been “Looed”.
• If you’re scoring points, you get 1 point for each trick you won.
• If you got “Looed”, you lose 5 points.
• The game ends when a player reaches 15 points.

When I play for chips, I get 1/5th of the pot for each trick I take. It’s a simple and fair way to keep track of the winnings.

If I get looed, things get a bit more complicated. I have to pay into the pot the same number of chips as there were at the start of the round. Those chips stay in the pot for the next round. The dealer also throws in 5 chips, but the rest of the players don’t have to pay. We don’t want the pot to get too big, so we put a cap on it to keep things under control.

If the dealer played for the pot and would have won, their winnings stay in the pot for the next round. It’s like a little bonus for the players.

End of the Game

The game ends when someone reaches 15 points or when we decide to stop playing for chips. The winner is either the first player to reach 15 points or the player with the most chips. It’s all about racking up those points and chips!

I’m Amber, and I love playing games. I’m a master when it comes to gaming, and I can’t get enough of it. And you know what else I love? Dogs, plants, and D&D. They’re all part of what makes me who I am.