How to Play Cyprus

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Cyprus is a domino game for four to ten players built around a branching, cross-shaped layout that grows outward from a central double. Each turn a player must match an open end of the layout, drawing from the boneyard if they cannot go. The game moves quickly, rewards hand management, and produces enough interaction to keep a full table engaged from first tile to last.

It is well suited to family gatherings and social evenings because the rules are simple enough for children to grasp in minutes yet the decisions run deep enough to hold adult interest. Cyprus is typically played at kitchen or dining tables where there is room for the layout to spread, and it travels well in any standard domino set.

A little history

The precise origins of Cyprus are unclear. It belongs to a broad family of cross or star domino games that spread through Mediterranean and Caribbean communities during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the name suggests a possible association with Cyprus or with players of Cypriot heritage, though no definitive documentary record confirms this. Cross-domino games of broadly similar structure are well attested across southern Europe and the Caribbean from at least the mid-1800s, and Cyprus is likely a regional or community variant that crystallised from that tradition.

Setting up

1. Agree on the target score before play begins; 100 points is standard for a short game, 200 for a longer session.
2. Turn all tiles face down and thoroughly shuffle them in the centre of the table.
3. Each player draws their starting hand: seven tiles each for up to six players; five tiles each for seven to ten players.
4. Players look at their own tiles and keep them hidden from opponents, typically standing them on edge.
5. The remaining tiles stay face down as the boneyard.
6. Determine the opening player: the holder of the highest double goes first. If no one holds a double, reshuffle and redraw.

How to play

1. The opening player places any double face up in the centre of the table. This tile is the spinner and must be a double; it defines the four arms of the cross layout.
2. Play proceeds clockwise. On each turn a player must place exactly one tile that matches an open end of the layout.
3. The four ends of the opening double must each be extended once before any arm may be extended further. This creates the four initial arms of the cross.
4. Once all four arms are started, players may extend any open end on any arm, matching the pip value shown at that end.
5. A tile is placed end-to-end against the matching open end. Doubles are placed crosswise on their arm but do not themselves sprout new branches.
6. If a player cannot match any open end, they must draw one tile at a time from the boneyard until they either draw a playable tile or exhaust the boneyard.
7. If the boneyard is empty and the player still cannot play, they pass their turn. Announce the pass clearly so all players are aware.
8. A player may not pass voluntarily; they must draw if they cannot play and tiles remain in the boneyard.
9. Play continues until one player places their last tile (domino) or until the game is blocked because no player can move and the boneyard is empty.
10. When a player plays their last tile they call out and that hand ends immediately. If the game blocks, the player with the fewest pips in hand calls and that hand also ends.

Winning and scoring

When a hand ends, every player except the winner counts the total pips remaining in their hand. Those pip totals are added together and awarded as points to the player who went out (or, in a blocked game, to the player with the fewest pips remaining). If two or more players tie for fewest pips in a blocked game, the points are shared equally and rounded down. Scores are recorded after each hand and hands are replayed until one player reaches or exceeds the agreed target score. That player wins the game. In some circles the winner is the player with the highest cumulative score after an agreed number of rounds instead.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns the order in which the four arms must be started. The standard ruling is strict: no arm may receive a second tile until all four arms have their first tile. If a player inadvertently extends an arm that is not yet fully opened, the tile must be taken back and a legal play made if one exists; if no legal play exists the player draws as normal. A second common dispute arises when the boneyard runs to a single tile. House rules vary, but the standard ruling is that the last tile in the boneyard may be drawn; however, the player who draws it does not reveal it and the boneyard is then considered empty for pass purposes.

In a blocked game, pips on the spinner (the opening double) count normally toward a player's pip total. Some groups house-rule the spinner's pips as zero; if you adopt this, agree before the game starts. On the question of a player forgetting to draw and simply passing, the standard remedy is to require the player to draw the tiles they should have drawn before play continues, provided the next player has not yet placed a tile.

How to win more often

• Track the open ends early and keep at least one tile in hand that matches each live end if you can; being forced to draw repeatedly loses you the game.
• Play your heavy tiles (high pip counts) as early as possible. Tiles with twelve or more combined pips sitting in your hand at the end of a round are costly.
• Count the pips others are drawing. If a player draws several times to match a particular end, that end's value is probably scarce in the remaining boneyard, and holding tiles of that value becomes more powerful.
• Do not rush to close an arm that suits you. Leaving a matching open end available gives you flexible plays on future turns while opponents may struggle with the other arms.
• In a large game (eight or more players), the boneyard empties faster than expected. Prioritise playing tiles that only fit one end before those that fit several, so you retain the most options as the layout thins out.

Variations

Double-Nine Cyprus

Played with a double-nine set, this variant is strongly recommended for seven or more players. Starting hands remain five tiles each. The cross still opens from a central double and the same four-arm rule applies, but the greater range of pip values extends the game, deepens the blocking decisions, and reduces the luck of the draw.

Blind Cyprus

In Blind Cyprus, players draw their starting hand but do not look at their tiles until it is their first turn. On their first turn, a player may look at their hand and then play normally. This forces faster in-the-moment decisions and removes the advantage of extended pre-game planning; it is particularly popular with experienced groups looking for a livelier session.

Team Cyprus

With six, eight, or ten players, the group divides into pairs. Partners sit opposite each other at the table. Points scored by either partner in a round are added to the team's total. Partners may not show each other their tiles or give explicit verbal advice, but reading a partner's plays to deduce what they hold is encouraged. The first team to reach the agreed target wins.

Scoring Cyprus

In this variant, a player scores points during the hand rather than only at its end. Each time a player places a tile that makes any single open end show a multiple of five (5, 10, 15, and so on), they score that number of points immediately. End-of-hand scoring for remaining pips still applies on top. This variant rewards players who can engineer scoring plays mid-game and adds a useful points cushion for skilled players even when they do not go out first.

Cyprus: frequently asked questions