Domino is a game of skill and chance that involves lining up black and white rectangles to knock them over. Some people enjoy playing games with these tiles, while others like to create elaborate domino art. The word “domino” also refers to a long, hooded cloak worn with a mask during carnival season or at a masquerade ball. Today’s Wonder of the Day is inspired by Hevesh, a YouTube artist who creates mind-blowing domino setups that often feature thousands of pieces.
Like the dots on a die, the identity-bearing face of a domino is marked with an arrangement of spots (or “pips”), while the blank or 0 side is identically patterned to the other face. The pips on a domino are arranged into suits of four. Each suit is represented by a particular color: red, blue, black, and white. Some sets also include a suit of blanks or the number zero, which are not represented by any color.
The most popular type of play for dominoes involves layout games, which are divided into two broad categories: blocking games and scoring games. Blocking games are based on keeping opponents from making a play, while scoring games are based on counting the total value of all the remaining tiles in each opponent’s hand. Some games are designed to be played with a single player, while others can involve teams of two or more players.
A double-six set includes 28 dominoes, and a set of this size is usually sufficient for most layout games. To play, each player starts with seven dominoes in their hand and a stack of dominoes in front of them that is called the stock or boneyard. Each player draws one tile from the stock, and then places it on-edge in front of them so that they can see the value on their own tiles but cannot see the values on their opponents’ tiles.
Each player must play a domino when their turn comes up, and they are not allowed to hold back a domino that is able to be played. This ensures that every player has an opportunity to score points by forming a chain reaction with their own dominoes, as well as an equal chance of achieving this with the dominoes in their opponent’s hands.
As a business, Domino’s has had to adapt in order to survive. In addition to addressing the main complaint from customers about their food quality, the company has added new items to its menu, including stuffed crust pizzas and a salad bar. The company has also implemented a new leadership model that relies less on traditional bureaucratic structure and more on individual leaders who can inspire their teams to innovate.
When Hevesh creates her intricate domino setups, she follows a version of the engineering-design process. She first considers the purpose or theme of her installation, and then brainstorms ideas for images or words she might want to incorporate into it. Next, she creates a sketch of the entire setup on paper. Finally, she adds arrows that show the way each domino should fall. Then, she tests out the design by placing the first domino on its spot and pushing it over with a small nudge. This pushes all of the potential energy into kinetic energy, which is transmitted to the next domino, and so on. Just like the electrical pulse of a nerve impulse, the potential energy of each domino quickly travels down the line until all the dominoes have fallen.