Domino, a game of skill and luck played with rectangular tiles bearing markings that represent the spots on six-sided dice, has intrigued people around the world for centuries. From professional domino competition to simply setting up and knocking over a long chain of the little squares, this tool for social interaction is both a fun pastime and a test of patience and strategy.
The most common and easiest to learn domino games involve one or two players. Each player begins with a double-six set of 28 dominoes, which are shuffled and formed into a stock or boneyard and then drawn by each player. If the player does not draw a domino, that player passes play to his opponent and the number of dots on their remaining dominoes is noted. This information may be used later to determine the winners.
When playing domino, players may draw new hands if they lose all their own tiles. The player who draws the heaviest tile will make the first play, or “set,” as it is also called, depending on the rules of the game being played. The rules of some games specify that a player must place his first domino on a double, while others require the heaviest single or the highest double.
Once a domino is placed on a double, it begins a reaction that continues to all of the other dominoes around it. This is referred to as the domino effect, which describes the way that one thing can knock over a series of other things at a steady, predictable rate. Physicists have studied the domino effect in the lab and found that dominoes do indeed behave in this way, as demonstrated in this video from the University of British Columbia.
In the same way that a domino can trigger a sequence of events, it can also act as a model for how the brain works. The pulse that is created when a domino falls is very much like the pulse generated by a firing neuron in the human body, which travels at a constant speed without losing energy and can only be felt in one direction.
When writers compose their manuscripts, they use the domino effect as a guide to how to build an effective plot. A plot is not simply a series of events that happen; it is a result of the habits we create along the way. In order to create a well-developed plot, it is important to set clear goals and work towards them consistently. Whether you are writing a short story on the fly or a novel that requires careful outlining, the domino effect can help you keep your project on track.