How to Play Domino Solitaire

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

Domino Solitaire is a single-player tile game played with a standard double-six set of 28 dominoes. The player builds one continuous chain, matching pip values at each open end, drawing from the remaining stock when no move is available from the hand.

It is a satisfying puzzle that rewards patience and forward planning without requiring an opponent. It is commonly played at a kitchen table or on a tray, and suits anyone who enjoys the quiet logic of a good solitaire challenge.

A little history

The origins of Domino Solitaire specifically are unclear; single-player domino arrangements appear in European game literature from the nineteenth century, though no precise inventor or date is firmly documented. The double-six domino set itself is widely recorded in Europe from the eighteenth century, with China often cited as an earlier source, though the exact line of transmission remains contested among historians.

Setting up

1. Turn all 28 tiles face-down on the table and shuffle them thoroughly. This pool of face-down tiles is called the boneyard.
2. Draw seven tiles from the boneyard and stand them on their edges facing you. These form your starting hand.
3. Leave the remaining 21 tiles face-down in the boneyard within easy reach.
4. Clear a long flat space in front of you for the chain to grow along.

How to play

1. Turn the first tile from the shuffled boneyard face-up to start the chain. This is your foundation tile. Its two pip values become the two open ends of the chain.
2. Draw seven tiles from the boneyard to form your hand.
3. On each turn, attempt to place one tile from your hand onto either open end of the chain, matching the pip value at that end exactly.
4. A double (e.g. 3-3) is placed crosswise on the chain but its exposed value counts as the number on both halves; play continues off the same end value as before.
5. If you cannot play any tile from your hand, draw one tile at a time from the boneyard until you either find a playable tile or the boneyard is exhausted.
6. A tile drawn from the boneyard may be played immediately if it matches, or added to your hand.
7. Once the boneyard is exhausted and you still cannot play any tile from your hand, the game is blocked and ends immediately.
8. Continue placing tiles, choosing either open end of the chain on each turn, until all 28 tiles have been placed or no legal move remains.

Winning and scoring

You win by successfully placing all 28 tiles into a single unbroken chain with no tiles remaining in hand or boneyard. If the chain becomes blocked before all tiles are placed, the game is lost. Some players score a blocked game by counting the total pips remaining in hand, aiming to keep this number as low as possible across multiple rounds.

The fine points

The most common dispute concerns doubles: the standard ruling is that a double is placed crosswise but does not open a branch. Play continues off one end only, using the pip value of that double. Some house rules allow branches off a double, but this is a variation rather than the standard single-chain game. If a player inadvertently plays to the wrong end or misreads the pip count, the tile must be returned to hand before the next draw or play; moves cannot be retracted once the next action has begun.

A second common query is whether the boneyard must be drawn from one tile at a time or can be searched. The standard rule is strictly one tile at a time, drawn blind. Searching the boneyard, even visually, is not permitted and eliminates the challenge the game is designed to provide.

How to win more often

• Before placing a tile, count how many tiles in your hand and the chain can connect to each open end; favour the end that gives you more future options.
• Preserve tiles that carry rare pip values, particularly sixes and blanks, as they are harder to match later in the game.
• Avoid creating a situation where both open ends show the same pip value if you hold no doubles of that value, as this can cause an immediate block.
• Delay playing doubles until you hold at least one tile that matches their pip value, so you are never stranded after placing them.
• Keep track of which pip values have already been played; if all tiles bearing a certain number are on the chain, avoid engineering an end that requires that number.

Variations

Draw Five

Instead of drawing seven tiles to start, the player draws only five, leaving a larger boneyard. This increases reliance on drawing and makes blocking less likely early in the game, producing a slightly longer and more forgiving session.

Branching Solitaire

In this variant, when a double is placed it opens a branch: the chain can now grow in up to four directions from that double. The player wins by clearing all tiles across all branches. The layout requires considerably more table space and the game is substantially harder to complete.

Double-Nine Solitaire

Played with a double-nine set of 55 tiles rather than the standard double-six set. All other rules remain the same. The larger set produces a longer game and a much harder blocking problem, as pip values up to nine must all be matched across the chain.

Scored Solitaire

The player plays a fixed number of rounds, usually five or ten, recording the pip total of unplaced tiles at the end of each blocked game (a completed game scores zero). The cumulative score across all rounds is the final result; the aim is to achieve the lowest possible total, making it suitable as a personal best challenge over time.

Domino Solitaire: frequently asked questions