Official Draw Dominoes Rules

Last Updated on June 23, 2025 by The Official Game Rules Team

Draw Dominoes is a classic variation of the blocking game family. The key difference from Block Dominoes is the use of a boneyard — a pool of undealt tiles that players must draw from if they can’t make a valid move. This “buying” mechanic adds more interaction and decision-making, making Draw a popular choice for both casual and competitive players.

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How to Play Draw Dominoes

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Draw Dominoes Overview

Players: 2 or more
Domino Set: Double-6
Game Type: Blocking Game
Also Known As: Draw Dominoes, The Draw Game, Draw or Block Game, Block Dominoes with Buying, Domino Big Six, and Double-Six Dominoes

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Setup and Tile Distribution

For 2–4 players, each draws 7 tiles from a shuffled double-six set. For 5 or more players, the number of tiles drawn per player should be agreed upon before the game begins. A common guideline is:

• 2 players: 7 or 8 tiles each
• 3–4 players: 5 or 6 tiles each

After the initial draw, the remaining tiles form the boneyard, placed face-down and pushed to the side.

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How to Play

Any tile can be used to start the game. Play proceeds clockwise, with each player attempting to match one end of a tile from their hand to one of the open ends on the layout. Only one tile is played per turn.

If a player has no playable tile, they must draw tiles from the boneyard, one at a time, until they can make a move or the boneyard is empty. All drawn tiles that cannot be played must remain in the player’s hand. If the boneyard is empty and no valid tile is available, the player passes.

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Winning and Scoring

The first player to play all their dominoes calls out “Domino!” and wins the round. If all players are blocked and no further moves can be made, the game ends in a block. In that case, each player reveals their remaining tiles and adds up the number of pips. The player with the lowest total wins the round and earns 1 point per pip from each opponent’s hand.

The game continues until a player reaches a pre-determined winning score. Most commonly, this is 100 points, but variations exist where players play to 50, 101, 150, or 200 points.

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Starting Tile Variations

There are several common methods for selecting the starting tile:

1. The highest double in the draw (if no double is drawn, re-shuffle and re-draw).
2. Force start with the double-six (6–6) — re-draw if not dealt.
3. Use the highest double, and if no doubles are dealt, start with the highest single.

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Spinner Rules (Optional)

In most versions of Draw Dominoes, no spinners are used. However, some variants allow the first double played to act as a spinner, enabling branching in four directions. Spinner use should be agreed upon before the game begins.