How to score Dominoes
Match the dots and be the first to empty your hand. It’s easy to learn and works great for teams or every-player-for-themselves.
The goal
Be the first to play all of your dominoes — or score points along the way, depending on how your table plays.
On your turn
On your turn, add one domino to the end of the line so its number matches the open end. Can’t match? You draw a new one or pass.
Points
By default, you score as you go: tap the points in the moment the open ends add up to a multiple of five (All Fives). Prefer the classic style instead, where the round winner scores the dots left in everyone else’s hands at the end? Switch “Score each round by” to “Pips left.”
Winning
The first player or team to reach the target score — like 250 — wins.
How the scoring works, hand by hand
Tap points onto a side as they happen. Great for All Fives, where points come during play — the running total updates as you go, then you tap “End round.”
Play the whole hand, then enter the result once. Best when the winner simply takes the leftover dots at the end.
Playing All Fives (points made)? Use Live scoring. Counting leftover dots? Use By round. You can switch between hands.
What you need
A set of dominoes (usually the “double-six” set) and 2 to 4 players.
You can play as teams (partners add their scores together) or everyone on their own. Set that up on the previous screen.
The big idea
Each player takes some dominoes to start — that’s your “hand.” The rest sit face down in a pile called the “boneyard.”
You take turns adding dominoes to a line on the table. The goal is to get rid of all of yours before anyone else.
Taking a turn
A domino has two ends with numbers of dots on each. To play one, one of its numbers must match a number at an open end of the line.
For example, if an open end shows a 5, you can play any domino that has a 5 on it, and now its other number becomes the new open end.
When you’re stuck
If you can’t match either open end, draw a domino from the boneyard and try again.
If the boneyard is empty and you still can’t play, you pass your turn.
Winning a round
The first person to play their last domino “goes out” and wins the round.
By default you’ve already been scoring along the way (see below), so going out just ends the hand. Playing the classic pips-left style instead? Everyone else now counts the dots (“pips”) left in their hands, and those become the winner’s points.
How points work
There are three common ways to score, and you pick one in the rules. The app starts you on the first:
Points made (All Fives) — you score during play, the moment the open ends add up to 5, 10, 15, and so on. This is the default — tap the points in as each domino goes down.
With All Fives, points get rounded to the nearest five: 1 or 2 dots are worth nothing, 3 to 7 are worth 5, and 8 to 12 are worth 10.
Pips left — the classic style. Nobody scores during play; the round winner scores all the dots left in the losers’ hands once someone goes out.
Manual — you just type in each side’s points yourself, however your family counts.
Blocked games
Sometimes nobody can play and the game is “blocked” (also called a jam).
When that happens, the player with the fewest dots left in hand usually wins those leftover dots. You can change this in the rules.
Scoring games often do it differently: every side scores the difference between their dots and each heavier hand, so only the biggest hand comes away with nothing.
How the game ends
You play round after round, adding to each side’s total. The first to reach the target score (like 250) wins.
Some families make you land exactly on the target — go over and you “stay” and score nothing that round.
Words you will hear at the table
If it is your first time
- Not sure which rules to use? Just press Start — the default (All Fives) already has you scoring as you play, which is how most tables actually do it.
- You can play as teams or as individuals — set that up with the Partners / Everyone solo buttons.
- Prefer the quieter, classic style where nobody scores until someone goes out? Switch to “Partners 150” in House rules.
Printable score sheet
Blank, for the nights the phone stays in a pocket. Print this page and only the sheet comes out.
| Hand | Player | team | Player / team 3 | Player / team 4 | ||||
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| Hand | Total | Hand | Total | Hand | Total | Hand | Total | |
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Or let the app do the adding
Game Night Tally Pad keeps score for Dominoes and five other games, with your house rules, on iPhone and iPad. Any hand can be fixed afterwards. In App Store review since 20 October 2026.
Rules vary from table to table. This is the common version, and the one the app scores by default; your house rules win.