The domino effect is the chain reaction that occurs when one object, person, or event pushes another object, person, or event in a different direction. This reaction can either be positive or negative, depending on the direction that the initial object moves. A domino can also represent a metaphorical situation where the action of one thing causes a series of events to follow, such as in a political crisis or an accidental accident.

Lily Hevesh grew up with dominoes—the classic 28-piece set—and started creating her own setups at 9 years old. She has since developed her hobby into a career as a professional domino artist, and she creates mind-blowing domino installations for movies, TV shows, and even events for famous musicians. Hevesh has a unique process for designing her domino masterpieces, which she calls a form of engineering-design. She brainstorms ideas, researches the history of the subject or theme, and creates an outline or blueprint for the project. She then builds a prototype in her workshop, and finally, after fine-tuning it, she creates a full-size version of the setup.

Dominoes can be made from many different materials, including ivory, silver-lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl or MOP), bone, and dark hardwoods such as ebony. The pips on each tile are usually inlaid or painted, and the resulting sets may be simple and elegant or intricately designed with carvings or etchings. There are many games that can be played with dominoes, and these generally fall into four categories: bidding games, blocking games, scoring games, and round games.

While most of these games involve a competitive aspect, some are simply for fun and can be enjoyed by groups of friends or family members who enjoy sitting around a table and laughing and talking. When a player plays a domino in the wrong turn, it is known as a misplay, and the tile must be called back. The next player then plays a tile on top of the misplayed domino, and the chain continues.

A double that can be played on all four sides is a spinner, and in some games this can play an important role in the game’s outcome. For example, a double played as the lead in a game of Dominoes can be scored for ten points. Some rules of domino require that the ends of a line of play be a certain number, and the winning player’s score for a hand or game is determined by counting those pips.

Whether or not the games have a competitive element, it is common for players to draw more tiles than they are entitled to. When this happens, the extra tiles must be taken from the hand and returned to the stock before the next player draws his or her hand. In this way, players try to keep their hands as close to full as possible in order to maximize the value of their score. This strategy is known as the “domino count.”