Domino is a game that involves laying one tile after another in a line, with the goal of scoring points by placing the last domino so that it touches each end of the preceding piece, and the sum total of the exposed dots on the two ends matches a multiple of five. It can be played by two or more players and is also used in educational settings to teach number sense.

Dominoes are usually twice as long as they are wide and feature a line in the middle to divide them visually into two squares, each marked with an arrangement of spots or “pips” that resemble those on a die. The value of each side, which ranges from six to none, determines the rank or weight of the domino; a domino with more pips is considered heavier than one with fewer pips.

Normally, the top face of each domino bears an image or inscription, such as the name of a game, its rules, or the like, while the bottom surface is blank. Traditionally, domino sets were made from natural materials such as bone, silver lip ocean pearl oyster shell (mother of pearl), ivory or a dark hardwood such as ebony with contrasting black or white pips inlaid or painted on them; modern sets often use plastics instead of these more expensive materials.

Many different games can be played with dominoes, and they can be combined in numerous ways to create intricate designs referred to as domino art. These can include straight or curved lines, grids that form pictures when they fall and even 3D structures such as towers and pyramids. Creating such artwork requires careful planning and often a considerable amount of energy, as each domino must be carefully positioned against the force of gravity to prevent it from falling over.

One of the most popular uses of domino is to build large structures that can be photographed for use in advertising, such as for movies or events. The artist Lily Hevesh, whose YouTube channel has more than 2 million subscribers, is known for her spectacular domino art. She has created sets for television shows, films and even for celebrities, including Katy Perry.

The same principle that applies to building dominoes can be applied to the creation of a narrative, and in particular, a novel. In the process of writing, it is often useful to consider each scene as a domino that must be matched with the scene preceding it, in order to establish the overall direction and theme of the story.

Fortunately, as with dominoes, there are a variety of tools available to help writers construct and manage such complex sequences of scenes. Domino, a new cloud-based platform that combines project management, collaboration and workflow automation, is available for self-service on premises or as a fully-managed cloud service. For more information, visit www.dominocloud.com.