Bendomino

The Bendomino box and pieces

Bendomino is a tabletop strategy game similar to dominoes, created by Thierry Denoual and published by Blue Orange Games in 2007. It is a set of double-6 dominoes with a 120-degree curve. The main difference from dominoes is the curved shape of the pieces, which introduces a new level of strategy to the game. There is also a version of the game for younger players with pictures instead of numbers and symbols on the bendomino tiles.

Gameplay

Bendomino is played in rounds. At the beginning of each round, place the 28 Bendominoes face down and mix them. Players draw their hand, the remaining pieces represent the stock.

• 2 players: each player takes 7 Bendominoes.
• 3 players: each player takes 6 Bendominoes.
• 4 players: each player takes 5 Bendominoes.

The player with the highest Bendomino double starts the game by placing the piece on the center of the table. If no double was drawn, the highest Bendomino number should be played. (Example: 6/5)

Taking turns in a clockwise direction, each player tries to match a Bendomino by number to either end of the Bendomino chain. To be accepted the new piece needs to match but also has to fit.

Connecting pieces

Each Bendomino must be connected evenly with other pieces to ensure accuracy of the game.

Draw

If players do not have a Bendomino that can be played, they must draw one piece from the stock. If the piece they draw can be played, they can immediately play it.

Players can decide to draw a Bendomino and pass their turn even if they have playable pieces.

Blocked positions

Either end of the Bendomino game can be blocked when:

• No matching numbers are available
• No matching pieces can fit
• One end of the game is trapped in a dead end
• Both ends connect (very rare)

If both ends of the Bendomino chain are blocked, each player draws a Bendomino until the stock is empty.

End of a round

A round ends when:

• A player has no Bendominoes left to play.
• The stock is empty and players cannot play any pieces.

You win a round when:

• You play all your pieces.
• No pieces can be played by any player and you have the lowest point total. (The point total is the total number of dots on your remaining Bendominoes).

The winner of a round scores the dot points from all opponents’ remaining Bendominoes.

Winning the game

The first player to score 100 points wins the game.

Variations

Wild Draw

For a more aggressive game, when players do not have a playable piece they must continue to draw until they get a playable piece or until the stock is empty.

No Draw

When players do not have a matching piece, they pass their turn instead of drawing.

No Draw - 2 Teams of 2 players

In this version, each player draws 7 pieces at the start of the game, so there is no stock. Players take turns and only use their individual pieces. A team wins a round when one team member is declared the winner (see basic rules). The winning team scores the dot points from the remaining Bendominoes of the losing team.

Bendomino patent application for their curved shape