Block and Draw Dominoes
When somebody says “let us play dominoes” without naming a game, they almost always mean one of two: block or draw. They are the oldest and simplest games in the family, they take two minutes to teach, and everything else — Mexican Train included — is built on top of them. Here is how each works.
What you need
A double-six set (28 tiles) is standard for both, and two to four players. A double-nine set works and suits a bigger group. Shuffle face down and deal: seven tiles each for two players, five each for three or four. The rest stay face down as the boneyard.
Block dominoes
The purer of the two, and the shorter to explain: there is no drawing. What you are dealt is what you have.
- The player with the highest double leads it. If nobody has a double, the heaviest tile leads — or reshuffle, depending on your house rules.
- Going round, each player adds one tile to either open end of the line, matching the number.
- If you cannot play, you pass. You do not draw. Your turn is simply over.
- The round ends when somebody plays their last tile, or when nobody can play at all — the game is “blocked”, which is where the name comes from.
Scoring: the player who went out scores the total pips in everybody else’s hands. If the game blocked instead, the player with the fewest pips scores the difference between their hand and the others’. First to an agreed target — 100 or 250 is usual — wins.
Because you cannot draw, block dominoes is largely about keeping options open: holding a spread of numbers, and working out from what has been played and what people have passed on which numbers your opponents are short of. Passing tells the table a great deal.
Draw dominoes
The same game with one change, and it is the version most families actually play: if you cannot go, you draw from the boneyard until you can, or until it is empty. Only when it is empty and you still cannot play do you pass.
Everything else — leading, matching, going out, scoring — is identical to block. In most places, “dominoes” with no further explanation means this.
Drawing makes the game longer and softer. You are rarely stuck for long, hands grow when the luck is against you, and the information you get from a pass is much weaker, since a pass now means the boneyard is genuinely exhausted rather than that somebody is short of fours.
The two compared
| Block | Draw | Mexican Train | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drawing | None | Until you can play | Usually one tile, then pass |
| Lines of play | One shared line | One shared line | One per player, plus a shared one |
| Doubles | Usually just a tile | Usually just a tile | Must be covered; can stop the table |
| Scoring | Winner takes opponents’ pips | Winner takes opponents’ pips | You score your own leftovers; lowest wins |
| Typical length | Very quick | Quick | Long — a round per double |
| Players | 2-4 | 2-4 | 2-8 |
The scoring difference is the one worth noticing. Block and draw are “win the round, take the points” games where high is good. Mexican Train inverts it: you accumulate your own leftovers and the lowest total wins. It is a small change that makes a big difference to how you play — in Mexican Train you are managing losses rather than chasing wins.
Where to go next
If you have played block or draw and want something with more to think about, Mexican Train is the usual next step: personal trains give you something to protect, doubles have teeth, and it works with up to eight people rather than four. how to play Mexican Train explains it from the start.
To be plain about it: this site does not play block or draw dominoes. It plays Mexican Train — with people you invite, or against the computer if you want a game right now. If you came here for a quick solo game of draw dominoes specifically, this is not it, but the rules above should get you playing at a table tonight.
Keep reading
- How to play Mexican Train
- Chicken Foot dominoes
- Playing with a double-nine set
- Glossary of domino terms
Ready for the next game up?
Mexican Train, free, with up to eight people you invite yourself.