The game of dominoes originated in Europe. The earliest records indicate that it was invented around 1120 CE. It is said that the game was presented to Emperor Hui Tsung, and was circulated in other countries by imperial order. The European style of dominoes was later popularized in Latin America.

The game is played with two or four players. Individual dominoes are placed face-down on the table, and the dominoes are mixed together before the game begins. Each player draws 5 dominoes, which are played face-down. The first player to reach the designated target scores wins. There are also variants of the game where one partner is required to chip out.

The game’s basic rules are the same as those of the card game, but the tiles are placed in specific patterns. A domino with a single matching end must be placed across from a second tile. Doubles, in contrast, must be played cross-ways across the end of the chain. In addition, tiles played to doubles must be played perpendicular to the doubles in the middle. As a result, domino chains develop into many different shapes, depending on the player’s whims and the limitations of the playing surface.

The basic rules of domino are fairly simple. Each player chooses one tile to be played with. The game proceeds clockwise around the table. When it comes to the last player, the player who shuffled the tiles draws the last hand. If a player cannot draw a tile, the other player is forced to draw one from the remaining unplayed tiles.

In western Europe, the domino game originated in France and Italy in the early 18th century. Italian missionaries may have introduced it to Europe. The game did not develop much further into a modern game in China. There are only two recorded games that used dominoes in Europe: positional and combination. Those played in the Western world can either place dominoes face-to-face against one another or place them edge-to-face against each other. To win the game, all adjacent faces must match up or make a total that matches the specified total.

In Chinese, dominoes are a cousin of playing cards. The Chinese game was originally known as pupai, which means “dotted cards”. Its original design was to represent every possible combination of two dice. Chinese dominoes are also known as “dotted cards” because they have no blank faces. The Chinese version of dominoes has a number of special markings that represent the results of two-dice throws. A typical Chinese domino set contains 32 pieces.

Throughout history, dominoes have evolved into several variations. The double-six set is the most popular. There are variations of this game, which includes a double-six set and a double-nine set.