The Fascinating Game of Maltese Cross

Get ready to dive into the thrilling world of Maltese Cross, a draw domino game that adds an extra layer of complexity to your typical domino experience. In this game, your challenge is to form a Maltese Cross using double tiles before you can freely add more tiles to the lines. Remember, starting the game with doubles in hand is crucial for success!

Setting Up the Game

Let’s get started by preparing the game setup. First, place all the dominoes with the pip side facing down on the playing area. Give them a good mix and enjoy the delightful sound of clacking tiles. Now, it’s time for each player to take turns drawing one domino at a time until they have the required number. If you’re playing with two players, each person should have seven dominoes. If you have three or four players, five dominoes for each player will do the trick. The remaining dominoes are then set aside as the boneyard and will be used as a draw pile throughout the game.

How to Play the Game

When playing dominoes, the player who has the highest double starts the game. They place this double in the center of the table, and it’s called a spinner. The goal is to lay a domino on all four sides of the spinner before adding more dominoes. This creates a cross shape.

If a player can’t play a domino on the starting double, they must choose a tile from the boneyard. If the tile can be played on the double, it has to be played. If not, the player skips their turn.

In standard Cross dominoes, players can start adding dominoes to the individual branches once the cross shape is formed. But in Maltese dominoes, there’s an additional rule. Players must play doubles on the ends of the cross, but these doubles are not spinners. They are placed at right angles to the existing dominoes.

Once the Maltese cross is formed, we can start building on the branches. Any doubles played from now on are also not spinners. We make branches in straight lines. We either play or draw from the boneyard. When the boneyard has two dominoes left, we can no longer draw.

If the boneyard only has two dominoes left and the Maltese cross is not formed, that branch is considered dead, and we can still play on the other three branches.

We keep playing until one player runs out of dominoes or the game gets blocked. The game gets blocked if no one runs out of dominoes and we can no longer draw.

SCORING

If you run out of dominoes and win the round, you earn points based on the total value of the remaining players’ dominoes.

If a game gets blocked, the player with the lowest total domino value wins that round. They will earn points that are equal to the difference between their domino value and the total value of the remaining players’ dominoes. For instance, let’s say the winner has a total of 18 points, and their opponents have a combined total of 40 points. In this case, the winning player will receive 22 points for that round.

Keep playing until one player reaches 100 points. The person who earns 100 points first is declared the winner of the game.

Keep playing until one player reaches 100 points. The first person to reach 100 points is declared the winner of the game.