Dominoes, cousins of playing cards, are one of the oldest tools for game play. From professional domino game competition to the solitary activity of setting up and knocking down dominoes, they allow for a wide variety of games and tests of skill and patience.
A domino is a small rectangular piece of wood or plastic, bearing on one face an arrangement of spots like those on dice and blank or identically patterned on the other. The identifying marks, called pips, are usually colored black and white, though some sets use more readable Arabic numerals instead of the traditional dots. The number of pips on a single domino determines its suit. A domino that is not a member of any suit is referred to as a zero.
Each domino is linked to its nearest neighbors by a line of pips that runs lengthwise along the edge. This linkage allows for a chain of dominoes to be built up. When a domino is placed on the table, it must be positioned so that its end touches one of the ends already established in the chain.
The chain may be used for scoring, blocking or other types of game play, but the most common type of domino game is layout play. In a layout game, each player draws a certain number of dominoes and then places them on the table. When a player cannot place a tile, they pass their turn. The first player to place a domino in the layout wins the game.
Most dominoes have 28 pips, although larger sets exist for players who want to play long games with more than two people. Each progressively larger domino set increases the number of unique combinations of ends on a domino, which means more possibilities for a tile to be added to a chain. Some extended sets contain as many as 55 dominoes, while others even reach double-21.
Domino’s has diversified its strategy in the market. Rather than operating many company-owned outlets, it has sought to hand over some of its markets to individual entrepreneurs and offer them a franchise. This way, the entrepreneur can manage the outlet and submit the results to Domino’s for compensation.
The firm’s strategy is based on the belief that it will improve sales by expanding its presence and by offering customers more choices of delivery services. The company is also increasing its investment in technology, and has introduced a mobile-optimized website and an app for placing orders on the go.
Hevesh is a prolific artist who specializes in creating mind-blowing domino constructions, some of which have taken several nail-biting minutes to fall. She follows a version of the engineering-design process to create her pieces. She starts by considering a theme or purpose for an installation, brainstorming images and words that might be related to the subject, then constructs them using the principles of physics. Hevesh also has a YouTube channel where she showcases her creations.