A domino is a small rectangular block, typically of wood, bearing from one to six pips or dots: 28 such blocks make up a complete set. It is used for playing various games in which players place pieces so that they touch at both ends and thus form a line or an angular arrangement. The word also applies to any game in which a player matches the ends of his or her tiles and then places them down on the table.
The most well-known domino is probably the classic game of Twenty-one, where the objective is to beat the dealer by having all of the players lay down all of their tiles before the dealer can make a single match. However, the game has many variations that allow for different strategies. Some are based on blocking the opponent and others are trick-taking games that were once popular in areas where religious proscriptions prevented the play of cards.
Another popular variation of the game is called Draw and Place, in which each player draws all of the tiles that he or she is permitted to take according to the rules of the particular game, and then places them in front of him in a way that the other players cannot see the pips on his tiles. The player then plays the tile that is closest to the heaviest double, which must be placed in a line parallel to the other tiles and touching them at both ends. A player may then continue to build the chain by placing additional tiles in a similar fashion.
If a player is not able to build a chain of tiles, or has no more matching dominoes in his or her hand, the tile is removed from the table and he or she must draw a new hand. Occasionally, no player is able to make a play and the game is blocked; this should be indicated by placing a large circle around a tile on the table. In this situation, the unused tiles are reshuffled and the players may begin again.
In the etymology of the word domino, the earlier sense refers to a long hooded cloak worn together with a mask during carnival season or at a masquerade. This sense of the word may explain why the domino piece resembles a priest’s black cape over his white surplice.
Whether you plot your novel off the cuff or carefully follow an outline, the end goal of writing a story is to create a series of reactions that lead to the big climax. The idiom domino effect, which originated from the politics of the Cold War, is a metaphor for how one small trigger can cause a chain reaction that has far-reaching consequences.
Domino Data Lab is a powerful data science platform that provides seamless end to end workflows from exploration to deployment and model management. It can connect to version control systems like Bitbucket, spin up interactive workspaces of different sizes and offer a variety of other tools that make it easy to work with data and code. It is especially useful for teams that need to collaborate on projects with remote workers or across multiple locations.