How to Play Mexican Train dominoes

Mexican Train is a domino game that families have played around the kitchen table for years. This page explains how the real game works, with real tiles in your hands.

The online version here follows the very same rules. It just does the shuffling, the drawing and the arithmetic for you. So if you learn it here, you can sit down at any table and play — and if you learned it at a table, you already know how to play here.

Read this first: there is no official rulebook.

Nearly every family plays Mexican Train a little differently. Those differences are called house rules, and they are part of the game's charm.

The best example is the double blank. At some tables it is worth nothing at all. At others it costs you 50 points. Both are correct. It depends on the house.

Everywhere a house rule applies, you will see a note like this one. Settle them with your group before you deal.

1. What you need

Mexican Train is played with a double-12 domino set. That is 91 tiles. Each tile has two ends, and each end shows a number from 0 to 12. A blank end counts as zero.

You will also want:

A train marker for each player. Most sets come with little plastic trains. A penny, a button or a poker chip works just as well.
A pencil and paper for the scores.
A centerpiece, if your set has one. This is the small plastic hub that holds the first tile and has eight spokes around it, one per player. It is handy but not required. A tile in the middle of the table does the same job.
A big table. The trains grow long, and they need room.

Between 2 and 8 people can play. Four or five is a comfortable number.

Playing online: the set, the markers and the scorepad are all handled for you. Nothing to buy and nothing to count.

2. The goal

A game is made up of several rounds. In each round you try to get rid of all the tiles in your hand.

The first player to do that goes out and ends the round. Everyone else counts up the dots on the tiles they are still holding. Those numbers become their score for the round.

Low scores are good. When all the rounds are finished, the player with the lowest total wins the game.

3. Setting up a round

Each round begins with an engine. This is a double tile that sits in the middle of the table and starts every train. The first round uses the double 12.

Take the double 12 out of the set and put it in the middle, face up. Then turn all the other tiles face down on the table and give them a good stir with your hands. Everyone helps. This is called washing the tiles.

Now each player draws a hand and stands the tiles up in front of them, facing their own way so nobody else can see the numbers:

Players	Tiles each
2 to 4	15
5 to 6	11
7 to 8	8

Leave the tiles nobody drew face down in the middle. That pile is the boneyard, sometimes called the pot. You draw from it when you get stuck.

Play goes clockwise around the table.

4. Starting your train

Every player builds their own line of dominoes, running away from the engine toward their seat. That line is called your train.

Your train has to begin with a tile that matches the engine. If the engine is the double 12, your first tile must have a 12 on it — a 12-8, a 12-3, and so on. Lay it down so the 12 end touches the engine.

After that, each new tile must match the number at the open end of your line. If your train ends in a 5, the next tile needs a 5 on it. The two touching ends always show the same number.

If you have no tile with the engine number, draw from the boneyard until you find one.

5. Taking your turn

On your turn you do one of these three things.

Play a tile

Add one tile to any train you are allowed to use. The numbers where the two tiles meet must match. Then your turn is over and play moves to your left.

Draw a tile

If you cannot play anywhere, take one tile from the boneyard. If it works, play it. You may also play a different tile from your hand instead.

Pass

If you still cannot play after drawing, your turn ends. Put your train marker on the end of your train. That marker tells everyone your train is now open, and any player may add to it.

When the boneyard is empty and you cannot play, you simply say so and pass.

House rule: how many tiles you draw. Most tables draw one tile and then pass. Some keep drawing until they find something playable, or until the boneyard runs dry.

House rule: drawing when you could play. Some tables allow it, since drawing can be a clever way to hold on to a useful tile. Others do not. Online this is called safe mode, and it stops you drawing when you already have a legal move.

6. The three kinds of train

Your own train

It starts out private. Only you can add to it. There is no marker on the end.

An open train

When a player cannot play and has to pass, their marker goes on their train. Now anybody can play there. The train stays open until its owner plays on it again and takes the marker back off.

The Mexican Train

This is one extra train that belongs to nobody. It is usually laid out sideways, across the middle of the table, so it is clear it is not anyone's. Anyone may play on it at any time. Like every train, it starts with a tile matching the engine.

There is only one Mexican Train per round. Starting it is a good move when you are stuck, or when you simply want to keep the game moving.

House rule: when the Mexican Train may be started. Some families only let you start it when you cannot play anywhere else. Others let anyone start it at any time. Decide before you begin.

7. Doubles

A double is a tile with the same number on both ends, like the 8-8. Doubles have their own rule, and this is the part new players ask about most.

Lay a double crosswise — turned sideways to the train — so everyone at the table can see it needs attention.

A double has to be covered before the game carries on. Covering it means adding another tile with that same number. This is also called satisfying the double.

You get to try first. If you have a matching tile, play it right away, and then your turn is over.

If you cannot cover it, draw a tile. If that does not help, put your marker up and pass. The next player must now cover that double before doing anything else. If they cannot, they draw and pass too, and it moves on around the table until somebody covers it.

Doubles and going out

Normally you cannot end the round while a double is sitting there uncovered. You may play a double as your last tile, but the round keeps going until it has been dealt with.

There is one sensible exception. If you play a double as your very last tile and the boneyard is empty, nobody could ever cover it — so the round simply ends and you go out. In this game that is called Blake's Rule.

House rule: do doubles have to be covered? Some tables skip this rule entirely and treat a double as an ordinary tile. There are really two questions here: whether a double must be covered during normal play, and whether an uncovered double stops someone going out. A table can answer them differently.

House rule: branching. After a double is covered, some tables let the train carry on in two directions from the crosswise tile, giving two places to play. Others keep every train as one straight line.

House rule: scoring doubles. A few groups count doubles as worth double their dots at the end of a round. Worth knowing if someone at your table mentions it.

8. Ending a round and scoring

A round ends in one of two ways:

Somebody plays their last tile and goes out.
The boneyard is empty and nobody can play. The round is blocked and stops there.

Then everyone turns their tiles face up and counts. Add together all the dots on the tiles still in your hand. That total is your score for the round. Here is an example:

Player	Tiles left	Round score
Ann	None. She went out.	0
Bob	9-4 and 3-3	19
Carol	12-6	18

Write the scores down. They add up across all the rounds, and the lowest total wins.

House rule: the double blank. This is the famous one.

The 0-0 tile has no dots on it, so by plain counting it is worth nothing. Plenty of tables think that is too easy, and charge a penalty to anyone caught holding it at the end of a round.

Fifty points is the traditional sting. Twenty-five is common too. Some tables charge nothing at all. Online you can set it anywhere from 0 to 50 in steps of 5. Agree on the number before you start, because this is the rule most likely to cause a friendly argument.

9. Playing the next round

The next round starts with the next double down. Round one uses the double 12, round two the double 11, then the double 10, and so on.

Take out the new engine, wash the tiles again, and deal fresh hands.

A full game runs all the way down to the double blank. That is 13 rounds, and it takes a good long evening.

House rule: how long the game is. You do not have to play all 13 rounds. Pick any starting double you like for a shorter game. Beginning at the double 6, for instance, gives you seven rounds.

House rule: who leads. Some tables give the first turn to whoever won the last round. Others just move one seat to the left each round. Either is fine.

10. House rules at a glance

Here are the choices in one place. Talk them over with your group before the first tile is played. There are no wrong answers, only different houses. Each one is also a setting in the online game.

House rule	What it changes
Starting double	How many rounds the game runs. Traditionally the double 12.
Who goes first	Last round's winner, the next player in order, or random.
Double blank penalty	Extra points for holding the 0-0 tile. Anywhere from 0 to 50.
Doubles must be covered	Whether a double stops play until it is matched.
Doubles and going out	Whether an uncovered double blocks the end of a round.
Branching trains	Whether a train splits in two after a double is covered.
Drawing	One tile per turn, or keep drawing until you can play.
Drawing when you could play	Whether it is allowed at all.
Starting the Mexican Train	Any time, or only when you are stuck.

11. Tips for new players

Play your big-number tiles early. If the round ends suddenly, you do not want a 12-11 in your hand.
Hold on to tiles with numbers that turn up often. They give you more places to play later.
Keep an eye on which trains have markers on them. An open train is a free place to put an awkward tile.
Doubles are heavy. Try not to be the one still holding them at the end.
Watch how many tiles the other players have. When someone is down to one or two, get rid of your biggest tiles fast.
Near the end, forget about blocking other people. Just get your own hand empty.

12. Common questions

Do I need the plastic centerpiece?

No. It keeps the table tidy and gives everyone an obvious spot for their train, but a tile laid in the middle works perfectly well.

What if I do not have a double-12 set?

A double-9 set works too. There are 55 tiles, so deal fewer of them, and the game runs from the double 9 down instead. It is a shorter, quicker game.

Can I play on my own train after my marker goes up?

Yes. And when you do, take the marker back off. Your train is private again.

Can I play on someone else's train whenever I like?

Only when their marker is up. A private train belongs to its owner alone.

Can two people start their own Mexican Trains?

No. There is only one, and it is shared by everybody.

What happens when the boneyard runs out?

You simply stop drawing. If you cannot play, you pass. If nobody can play, the round ends and everyone counts their tiles.

Is the online game the same?

Yes, the rules are identical. It shuffles, deals, keeps score and puts your marker up for you, and it will not let you make an illegal move. The house rules above are all settings you can choose before the game starts.

Why does everyone play it differently?

Mexican Train spread by word of mouth long before it was printed in any rulebook. Every family picked up a slightly different version. That is part of the charm. Just settle your house rules before you deal.

That is everything. The rules read longer than they play. After one round it will all make sense. Good luck, and mind the double blank.