Domino – A Game of Chance and Strategy
Domino is a game played by two or more players. Each domino has a rectangular base and an arrangement of spots, or pips, on one face. The other face is blank or identically patterned. Traditionally, dominoes were made of ivory, bone or silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother-of-pearl), with black or white pips. These were usually inlaid or painted. The traditional European domino sets are still available in these materials, but more recently the game has become popular with sets of plastic. Alternatively, sets can be constructed from other natural materials: stone (eg marble, granite or soapstone); other woods (such as ebony, redwood or oak), or metals like brass and pewter. Sets can also be constructed of a combination of these materials, for example a mother-of-pearl or ivory domino with a dark wood like ebony.
The most basic domino games involve scoring points by arranging a sequence of dominoes, called a chain reaction or path, in order to reach the target number or symbol. Each player then has a turn to place the next domino in the path and score points by marking its edge with an arrangement of dots or pips. A single end has a maximum of 12 pips, and the other end can have either a single or a double arrangement of pips. The double end is more common, with a maximum of 24 pips. Dominoes can be used to play many games of chance and strategy, some based on blocking or scoring, others involving skillful manipulation. In addition to domino games, dominoes can be used to make patterns or designs on a surface or to create 3D structures like towers and pyramids.
In a domino art setup, dominoes are placed in straight or curved lines, or in grids that form pictures when the dominoes fall. Lily Hevesh, 20, is a professional domino artist who creates spectacular displays for movies and events. Her largest installations involve 300,000 dominoes. Hevesh has a YouTube channel with more than 2 million subscribers, where she posts videos of her domino projects. She says that the most important physical force in a successful domino display is gravity. The gravitational pull of a knocked-over domino toward Earth causes it to strike the next domino in the line, causing it to tumble over and start the chain reaction.
Some learning challenges impact students much like falling dominoes. Compensating for a student’s difficulties may give them short-term success, but over time it can have a negative impact on their ability to learn the skills that will allow them to be independent and achieve their goals.
The CEO of Domino’s Pizza goes undercover to see how the company’s employees are handling their responsibilities. He spends time working in several busy locations and analyzing how the business operates. The results help him to identify areas of improvement for the business and develop a strategy that will improve customer satisfaction. The Domino’s strategy has been so successful that the company is able to offer customers new ways to order pizza, including texting an emoji and using voice assistants like Amazon Echo.