What is Block game?
The Block game is dominoes with no drawing. Each player is dealt the usual hand from the double-six set, and the tiles left over stay face down for the whole game. The holder of the highest double leads, and players take turns adding one tile to either end of the line, matching the number on that end.
A player who cannot match either end passes. In the standard Draw game that player would take tiles from the boneyard until one fits, so every turn usually adds a tile to the line. Here a pass costs nothing but the turn, and the line can stop growing as soon as nobody holds the numbers on its ends.
The first player to play their last tile wins. If nobody can play, the game is blocked and the player with the lowest pip total in hand wins; equal lowest totals are a draw. Because blocked games come quickly, keeping the heavy tiles in your hand is risky, and shutting an end your opponent needs is often the best move.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Dominoes | Block game |
|---|---|---|
| Drawing | Standard DominoesA player who cannot play draws from the boneyard until a tile fits or the boneyard is empty. | Block gameNobody ever draws. The tiles left after the deal stay face down until the game ends. |
| When you cannot play | Standard DominoesYou pass only when no tile fits and the boneyard is empty. | Block gameYou pass whenever no tile in your hand fits. |
| Tiles out of play | Standard DominoesTiles leave the boneyard as players draw them. | Block gameWith two players 14 tiles stay out of play, with three 13 and with four 8, and nobody knows which ones they are. |
| End of the game | Standard DominoesThe first player out wins. If nobody can play, the lowest pip total in hand wins; equal lowest totals are a draw. | Block gameThe same. Games are blocked much more often, so the pips left in your hand matter more. |
| Other options | Standard DominoesTwo to four players, with partnership play at four seats. | Block gameThe same. With partners, the double-six set deals 7 tiles to each of the four players, so all 28 tiles are in play. |
History
The Block game is the form described in the earliest European rules. Modern dominoes first appeared in France in the middle of the 18th century, the earliest European rules describe a simple block game for two or four players, and the early forms of the game in England were the Block Game and the Draw Game.
The Draw game, played here as the standard, is so widespread that it is often called simply dominoes. The Block game has never gone away: it is often called the simplest and probably the most common domino game. Its usual rules play a series of hands, to 100 points for two players or partnerships and 61 for three or four; here, as in the standard game, one hand decides the winner.