How to Play Yahoo!! Dominoes

Dominoes have been around since the 1700s, and it is thought that they were invented in the Dominican Republic. Dominoes are very similar to a pair of dice in that every possible combination of a pair of dice is represented on one of the dominoes in a double-six set, with the addition of a blank or zero. Over the years, many different games have been developed for dominoes, with some of the most popular games including 42, Train and Five Up (aka Muggins or All Fives).

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Yahoo!! identification

Get Into Yahoo!! Dominoes

1. Visit the board-games section of Yahoo and click on the dominoes icon or game name (see Resources below).
2. Fill out the username and password to keep track of all of your stats and gain acceptance into the game room.
3. Shoot past the advertisement page (how Yahoo makes the games free) by clicking "Click Here to Continue."

Play Yahoo!! Dominoes

4. Pick a game room in your skill level by clicking the name of the room or go straight to a room by clicking the "Play Now" button.
5. Copy the letters and numbers from the box into the provided form, so the Yahoo servers know a real person is accessing the room.
6. Set up your own table by clicking the "Create Table" button on the left of the pop-up window. You can set the options you want to play with, including playing with double sixes or double nines. You can also decide how many points are needed to win.
7. Look at your dominoes after they are dealt to find the highest double (matching numbers on both sides) you have. The player with the highest double will play first and set the domino all others will play off.
8. Play a domino with the number on one side matching an exposed number on one of the dominoes in play and try to make the numbers on the end add up to a multiple of five. For example, playing the double five at the beginning of the game gets 10 points and playing a five/blank will give the next person 10 points when played at the middle position.
9. Draw a domino from the bone yard (un-dealt dominoes) if you cannot play a domino on your turn.
10. Continue playing until you don't have any dominoes left in your hand.
11. Win the game by getting enough points to meet or beat the winning-point criteria.

Tips & Warnings

• Count the dots carefully before you play to make sure you can score.
• Watch what the other players can play off of, so you can block their moves and keep them from winning. For example, if an opponent can't play on a three, four or five, try to make those numbers come into play for your opponent.