Dominoes are flat rectangular tiles used as the basis of most games. They typically feature an arrangement of dots, known as “pips”, on each face; their value depends on its placement within its overall pattern; if a domino lacks any pips it has blank or similarly-patterned sides instead.

There are countless types of domino games, each with its own set of rules. Some are blocking or scoring games; others involve positioning dominoes. A player must place down his or her tile so that one of its open ends matches an adjacent one in the line of play; otherwise they are blocked and play ends prematurely.

A domino can come in an assortment of colors and designs to help distinguish it from similar pieces, as well as having textures or images printed onto its surface – this allows users to quickly identify pieces arranged on tables.

The word “domino” has many different interpretations, stemming from Latin domini, meaning “heavy.” Historically, it referred to long black hooded cloaks worn with masks at carnival feasts or masquerades. More recently however, its usage has expanded beyond this specific usage into restaurants, food delivery services, real estate investments, financial services and the company that created and marketed Domino’s Pizza franchises.

Domino’s Pizza is an innovative franchise that has made some notable decisions regarding marketing and innovation. Notably, the chain has taken bold stances against rivals such as Little Caesar’s and Pizza Hut in order to expand the Domino’s brand to new heights.

As Domino’s pizza franchise expanded, it eventually reached over 40,000 locations throughout the U.S. Additionally, it has also expanded into other businesses like real estate, finance and technology while remaining known for promoting franchises online via social media channels such as social networks like Facebook.

Dominoes can be used beyond blocking and scoring games for solo playing or trick-taking games – adaptations of card games that sidestepped religious proscriptions against playing them that became particularly popular during the early 20th century.

Dominoes are typically twice as long as they are wide, making them simple to stack and re-stack. Commonly sold in sets of two to six tiles, each domino features a central line that divides it visually into two equal squares with different numbers of pips or dots on their faces depending on which game it’s being used for – doubles have value on all four faces while singles only count toward two ends of play; some count only the total number of pips left in losing player hands at hand or game conclusion; other games add the total number left in players’ hands at end of hand or game completion to determine its worthiness for games featuring multiple lines of play or hands/games/game.