Domino is a game where players take turns placing dominoes edge to edge against each other so that the adjacent sides of the tiles form a line of play. Each tile has a number showing on one end and is blank or identically patterned on the other. Each domino must touch one of the ends of a previous domino played before it can be placed. If a player plays a domino without touching an end of a previous domino it is called a misplay and he must draw another hand. The most common type of domino set is made from a polymer such as plastic, but in the past sets were often made from materials like bone or ivory; dark hardwoods such as ebony; metals (e.g. brass or pewter); marble, granite or soapstone; and even crystal. The pips on the oblongs of a domino are usually black or white, but sometimes they are painted.
The goal of any domino game is to knock over all the pieces of a row or column before your opponents do. To do that, each domino must be positioned correctly — not too far apart or too close together — and you must keep up the pace. The same goes for stories: Readers want to see the next scene and challenge pretty quickly after the hero has reached a significant milestone or achieved a major plot point.
When Hevesh creates her mind-blowing domino setups, she uses a kind of engineering-design process to figure out how to make them work. She starts by considering the theme or purpose of the design, and she brainstorms images or words that might help illustrate it. Then, she creates a model of the entire layout and draws arrows to show the way that each domino should fall.
The next step is to figure out what kind of dominoes to use. Her preference is for polymer dominoes, which are cheaper and more durable than other kinds. But she also loves the look of natural materials, including a dark wood like ebony or a stone such as marble, granite or soapstone. In addition, she’s seen sets made from other kinds of natural substances, including clay; ceramic; and glass or crystal.
Once the layout and dominoes are in place, she begins to test them out by playing a few games with her friends. She pays special attention to how the dominoes feel and how easy or difficult they are to knock over. If she finds a domino that feels or is hard to knock over, she changes its position on the board until it’s just right.