Domino (or dominoes) are small rectangular blocks that are used to play games of chance. They have a line down the middle to divide them visually into two squares, with one side bearing an arrangement of spots or “pips” and the other blank or identically patterned.

On a mission in El Salvador, Domino disabled a prototype combat droid that was being neurologically controlled by rogue CIA agent Ekatarina Gryaznova. She later linked up with X-Force and helped restructure the team after reality was briefly overlapped with Reality-295.

Rules

Domino is a powerful mutant who manipulates the laws of probability to shift odds in her favor. She is an expert weapons technician and martial artist. Her staff fires projectiles, and she has the ability to disrupt technology.

The rules of domino vary greatly from game to game. Some games are blocking games, in which the object is to empty opponents’ hands, and others are scoring games, in which the number of dominoes left in the losing players’ hands is counted for a score.

Some games require that the player to the right of the winner of a hand shuffle the tiles before each game. Other games allow the same player to shuffle for each game.

In some games, a double is considered a spinner if it has both numbers on one end and two numbers on the other end (e.g., 5-5). A player who makes a spinner in a line of play may be able to remove a marker from their train and make it public, stopping other players from adding to their trains.

Variations

Dominos are normally made of ebony, but craftsmen used animal bone in earlier times. The bone was cut into thin pieces, which were affixed to each other. Later, these were replaced with pieces of tagua nut, or vegetable ivory.

Depending on the variant of domino being played, there are rules for how to build a line of play. For example, in Matador, a double is usually required to be the first domino to be played. This tile serves as a spinner, and other players must build off it before they can play elsewhere.

A mercenary and mutant, Domino has fought for mutant rights with hero groups like X-Force and the X-Men. She has also worked for X-Corporation in its Hong Kong branch and battled John Sublime’s Third Species mutant organ harvesting movement. She is also able to generate a psionic aura that alters probabilities. This can affect everything from improbable luck to causing enemies’ equipment to malfunction.

Materials

Domino is an excellent learning tool for children. It helps them develop their numeric patterning skills and strategic thinking. It also teaches them about the value of patience and practice. In addition, it helps improve their hand-eye coordination and artistic expression when building patterns.

The value of a domino is represented by its number of spots, called pips, which are either molded or drilled onto the piece. Some dominoes have a blank face, which represents zero. Dominoes are normally twice as long as they are wide, making them easy to stack.

Most domino sets come with a storage box. These boxes are typically narrow and open on one side. They can be made of wood or cardboard. Some even have a built-in peg board for keeping score. They are great for protecting the pieces from scratches and other hazards. They also keep the game organized and neat.

Scoring

Domino is scored by laying tiles so that their open ends create scoring combinations. For example, if one end of a domino matches an existing piece with a total of three or five, the player scores a point. If both ends of the domino match a scoring combination, the player scores two points.

If a round of domino is unable to advance, the game becomes “blocked”. Players with remaining tiles add up the pip counts on their dominoes to determine a total score for the round. The player or team with the lowest total score wins the round and is awarded the points of all of the other players’ dominoes.

After an insane Scarlet Witch depowered most of the mutants during M-Day, Domino reformed X-Force with Shatterstar (Gavedra-Seven) and Caliban to liberate the mutant sequestered by the Office of National Emergency on Rumekistan and Cable’s island paradise Providence. She subsequently left the team and went back to her mercenary ways.