Dominoes are a family of tile-based games. The pieces are rectangular tiles with two square ends and number spots on the side. The object of the game is to place as many of them as possible on your opponent’s side of the board. If you manage to get all of your pieces in one square, you win the game.

The game is played in pairs. Each player must play a tile on the table and position it so that it touches one of the dominoes on the chain. In some versions of the game, a player can only play a tile with a specific number on one end. This is known as “stitched-up” dominoes.

The game originated in Europe during the 18th century. It reached England through French prisoners of war. It quickly spread to other European countries and became a popular game. In 1771, the word “domino” was first recorded in a French dictionary. However, the word “domino” had earlier meanings in French. It was also used to describe crude woodcuts on paper, which were popular among French peasants.

The domino effect works by exploiting a fundamental principle of human behavior. The author of Influence, Robert Cialdini, explained this phenomenon by arguing that people tend to honor their commitments if they are first willing to commit to a small idea before committing to a bigger one. When the last domino falls, the winner scores the number of pip-counted tiles in the loser’s hand.

Traditionally, each domino in a set had a unique piece for every possible combination of two ends with zero to six spots. This set is known as a double-six set. The highest-value piece has six pips on each end. However, in some Chinese versions, the pieces are divided into two categories: military and civil dominoes. This resulted in a total of 28 unique pieces.

In addition to its use in the data science realm, Domino offers several advantages for data scientists. A first-class platform for standardized open-source data science development supports a wide variety of skill sets. The data and tools are portable and reusable across teams. The project management interface also allows managers to track the progress of their team members.

One of the most popular versions of domino is Hector’s Rules, which allows players to play double tiles on the opponent’s hands, awarding them with bonus play. As in all other games, scoring in domino games occurs during game play. Most scoring games use variations of the draw game. However, the player who does not call “domino” before laying a tile has to pick up an extra domino.

Dominoes are a popular game in the Western world, with two to four players participating. Initially, each player takes less than a dozen dominoes. If a player cannot place a domino, he or she must pick a sleeping domino from the pile. The player with the least number of pips wins the game.