Super Dominoes

This was a game developed by David Galt for Cardinal Industries double fifteen domino set. This is a block game with extra rules added to trigger events when tiles in the thirteen, fourteen and fifteen suits are played. It is more like a game of Poker with too many wild cards than a serious game.

Equipment

The game uses a double fifteen domino set. The game is for two or more players. The first double is a "fat spinner", so you will need a large table.

The Deal

Each player gets nine tiles. The rest of the tiles go to the boneyard. The first player in the first hand is determined by drawing for high tile. Afterwards, the first player is the player sitting to left of the winner of the previous hand.

The Play

The first player sets a double, if he has one. If he has no double in his hand, the option of first play goes to the next player, and so on around the table. If nobody has a double in their hand, each player in turns draws a tile from the boneyard until someone draws a double.

The first double is a "fat spinner" and has six trains growing from it, one on each long side and one from each corner. The ends are matched in the usual way to form the trains. A player who cannot play draws two tiles from the boneyard and may then play one of them. The following rules also apply:

1. You may play a double on its own suit or on a tile in the 13 suit; doubles are played across the line but do not create a new branch in the layout. When a double (other than the initial double or the [13-13]) is played, the next player misses a turn.
2. When a player plays a tile with a 15 at the open end, all the other players must immediately take a tile from the boneyard
3. When a player plays a tile with a 14 at the open end he takes another turn, but need not necessarily play on the 14. If he uses his free turn to play another tile with a 14 at the open end, he gets another free turn.
4. When a player plays a tile with a 13 at the open end, the next tile has to be played on that end. Following players are said to be "under a spell" until someone breaks the spell by playing a tile on the 13. This next tile can either be a 13 or any double. If a player under a spell is not able to play on the tile, he draws two tiles from the boneyard and plays one of them if able to. If the [13-13] is played on a 13, it breaks the spell but also casts a new spell, so the following player is still under a spell. The caster of the spell is immune from the spell: if the spell is still in force when the turn comes back to him he can play normally.
5. Each time a tile is played with a 3 on the open end, the direction of play reverses (clockwise to counterclockwise or counterclockwise to clockwise).

These rules apply to the initial double, so that

• If the starting double is [15-15], all players immediately take one tile from the boneyard.
• If the starting double is [14-14], the player who set the tile can immediately play on it.
• If the starting double is [13-13], players are under a spell and someone must break it before play can continue.
• If the starting double is [3-3], the normal clockwise order of play is immediately reversed to counterclockwise.

Scoring

This is a simple block game; the first player to domino gets the total of the pips in the hands of the losers. If the game blocks, the winner is the player with the fewest tile in his hand. If the game blocks and two or more players tie for the lowest number of tiles in their hands, the winner is the player with the fewest pips on his tiles. If the game blocks and two or more players tie for the lowest number of tiles and have the same number of pips on their tiles.