When you start learning how to play a domino, you may be interested in how many tiles are used in a domino game. Typically, when you think about dominoes, you may imagine a standard set of tiles with 28 pieces. That’s logical but there are multiple types of domino sets, which are popular worldwide. That’s why we decided to focus in this article on how many tiles in dominoes of various types are used. So, let’s start with it!
Table Of Content
- Why Are There Various Numbers of Domino Pieces in a Set?
- Types of Domino Sets and the Games They Are Used For
- Double Six Domino Set – an Eternal Classics
- Double Nine Domino Set: Which Games Are Played With It?
- Double Twelve Domino Set – For Longer Gameplays
- Double Fifteen Domino Set: What It Is Used For
- Double Eighteen and Double Twenty-One Domino Sets – Extended Kits for Players
- Conclusion
Why Are There Various Numbers of Domino Pieces in a Set?
Since its invention long ago, the domino game has changed considerably. The first mentions of dominoes belong to ancient China, and their special sets of tiles of red and green colors were used. At that time, a typical set of dominoes consisted of 32 tiles. Yet, when domino games came to Western countries, they changed: tiles with zero dots were added and some tiles from the Chinese set were removed. As a result, a double 6 dominoes set became a golden standard and was used commonly.
With time, domino games acquired some features of card games, they became more complex, and with double-six packs, it was not too interesting to play such games. That pushed game inventors to expand domino sets by adding new suits (combinations of dominoes with a similar number of dots on one of their ends). Some additional features also were added, for example, domino sets with spinners, and tiles marked with a special symbol which means that the tile can be used as a spinner, and more than two dominoes can be attached to a spinner end.
“The number of dominoes depends on the set, but the magic always starts with one: the one that starts the chain of events.”
Types of Domino Sets and the Games They Are Used For
Today, if you ask how many dominoes in a set are used, the answers may vary. Let’s check the most popular types of domino sets. By the way, the names of these sets don’t directly answer the question of how many tiles in dominoes, but they refer to the highest number of dots on a single domino.
Double Six Domino Set – an Eternal Classics
True classics, a double-six set is used for most types of domino games. It is a set of 28 dominoes with the number of pips from zero to six on each end with the total number of pips of 168. This domino set is used for the following traditional games:
- Domino Block
- Draw Domino
- All Fives
- Muggins Domino.
Double Nine Domino Set: Which Games Are Played With It?
If you are looking for an extended version of a classy double-six set, you can try double-nine dominoes. It is a set with the number of pips on each tile’s end varying from 0 to 9 and performing all the combinations of pips between zero and nine in its tiles. What’s so curious about a double-nine domino set and how many dominoes are in a double 9 set?
- The set consists of 55 dominoes with suits from zero to nine.
- The total number of pips in this set is 495.
- Double-nine domino sets are perfect for more complex points calculation in domino games, and thus, it is used in such games as Chicken Foot, Dominomega or Dominium (excluding 8s and 9s).
Double Twelve Domino Set – For Longer Gameplays
The next set is larger than double-nine but it is not still the largest one. That’s a double-twelve domino set. From its name, it is clear that it contains tiles with the number of dots on each end from zero to twelve. If you wonder how many dominoes in a double 12 set, there are 91 of them with a total number of pips of 1,092.
The most popular game to play with the double-twelve set is Mexican Train where you have to build your own train to be longer than your competitors’ ones. So, when you ask how many dominoes in Mexican Train are used, that is a double-twelve set you should take for this game. Besides domino games, Domino Double Twelve is often used in math educational explanations. It is great for the explanation of various math concepts and patterns.
Double Fifteen Domino Set: What It Is Used For
The next set we’ll talk about is double-fifteen. Do you know how many dominoes are in a double 15 set? There are 136 tiles with 2,040 pips on them. This set provides an opportunity to master your domino skills to a new level and play more complex and strategic games with it. It is also widely used for Mexican Train but you also can play Superdomino with them or create a whimsy gameplay while playing Chicken Foot or Texas 42.
Double Eighteen and Double Twenty-One Domino Sets – Extended Kits for Players
At last, the biggest sets in a row are double-eighteen (with the maximum number of dots of 18 on a single tile) and double-twenty-one (with the maximum number of dots of 21) sets. They are often used for math explanations due to the extended number of combinations on them.
- How many dominoes in a double 18 set are available? There are 190 tiles and the number of dots on them is 3,420.
- How many dominoes in a double 21 set? There are 253 tiles.
Both these sets are perfect for playing domino games in a big company as their number of tiles allows more than a common double-six fitted for 2-4 players. Thus, if you wonder how many dominoes in a pack you need to gather 8 players at your table, you definitely need one of these supersets.
Conclusion
Once you learn how many pieces in a domino set are used, you can select the best one for your loved domino games. In our blog, you may find lots of interesting articles describing the major rules of various domino games and other board games. Let’s explore them together to get maximum joy from playing board games!
