Playing against the computer

You do not need anybody else to play. Choose Play against the computer and you get a game right away, against one to five computer players, with the same rules and the same board as a game with friends. It is a good way to learn the game, and a good way to fill ten minutes. Here’s how to start one.

Starting a game

Start on your games list — that is where signing in lands you. If you are not sure how to get there, see How to sign in.

Click New Game.
You are offered two kinds of game. Choose the second, Play against the computer, and click Play a bot.
On Step 1: Opponents, choose how many computer players you want — anywhere from 1 to 5. You can change your mind as often as you like; the players appear and disappear under the game name as you do.
Click through to Step 2 to set the rules, if you want to change them.
Step 3 shows you everything you have chosen. Press Start and you are playing.

There is no invite code on Step 1, because there is nobody to invite. That is the only part of the setup that differs.

Choosing how many opponents

One opponent makes a short, tight game — fewer trains on the board and fewer tiles held against you. Five makes a long one, with a busy board and a lot to look at. Three is a good place to start if you are undecided, because it is close to the size of a family game.

The number of dominoes each player gets depends on how many of you there are, exactly as it does in a game with people. How a round is set up has the full table.

The rules are the same

A game against the computer uses the same rule options as any other game, and you choose them on Step 2 the same way: which double the game starts on, how the double blank scores, whether doubles must be satisfied, whether trains branch, and the rest. They are fixed once play begins, the same as they would be for a table of people. Game rule options explains each one.

The board is the same board too. Every player gets a column, the Mexican Train sits at the end, train markers go up when somebody passes, and scores are counted at the end of each round. Nothing about the game is simplified because your opponents are not people.

Telling the players apart

Computer players are given names that all end in bot — Katbot, Wilbot, Ashbot — and their chips carry a small robot instead of the person icon you get. So there is never a moment where you are not sure which of you is which.

Nobody else can join

A game against the computer is yours alone. It cannot be joined, even by somebody who somehow had the code, so you can leave one half-finished for a week and come back to it exactly as you left it.

If you want to play the same shape of game with people instead, make a normal game and send out the invite code — see How to invite players.

Playing again

When a game finishes, Play again sets up a fresh one with the same opponents and the same rules, ready to start. You do not have to pick the number again.