What is Mexican Train?
Mexican Train is a dominoes game for two to eight players with the double-twelve set of 91 tiles. A match has a round for each double from 12-12 down to 0-0. The round's double, the engine, starts in the centre of the table, and every player builds a train of their own outward from it. Beside the players' trains there is one more, the Mexican train, which belongs to everyone.
The tiles left are shuffled and dealt: 15 each with two to four players, 12 with five or six and 10 with seven or eight; the rest form the boneyard. On your turn you add one tile to your own train, to the Mexican train or to another player's train that carries a marker, matching the number at its end. Every train starts with a tile that matches the engine. If nothing fits, you draw one tile and play it if you can. If you still cannot, you pass and a marker goes on your train: anyone may now play on it, until you next play on it yourself.
A double gives you another play, and that play must cover the double. If you cannot cover it, you draw; if you still cannot, a marker goes on your train, and the next players must cover the double before anyone plays elsewhere.
The round ends when a player plays their last tile, or when the boneyard is empty and nobody can play. The pips left in each hand are penalty points, the totals carry over from round to round, and after the last round the lowest total wins. Equal lowest totals are a draw.
For a shorter match, choose fewer rounds in the table setup: half the match, seven rounds, or a single round. For five to eight players, choose the number of players there too.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Dominoes | Mexican Train |
|---|---|---|
| Players | Standard DominoesTwo to four players. | Mexican TrainTwo to eight. For five to eight, choose the number of players in the table setup. |
| Set | Standard DominoesDouble-six, 28 tiles, with double-nine and double-twelve as options. | Mexican TrainAlways double-twelve, 91 tiles. |
| Deal | Standard Dominoes7 tiles each with two players, 5 each with three or four. | Mexican Train15 tiles each with two to four players, 12 with five or six, 10 with seven or eight. |
| Start | Standard DominoesThe holder of the highest double leads, with any tile. | Mexican TrainThe round's double, 12-12 in the first round and one lower in each round after, is placed in the centre before the deal. The first turn moves one seat on each round. |
| Layout | Standard DominoesOne line with two open ends, shared by everyone. | Mexican TrainA train for every player and one public Mexican train, all starting from the double in the centre. |
| Where you play | Standard DominoesAt either end of the line. | Mexican TrainOn your own train, on the Mexican train, or on another player's train that carries a marker. One tile per turn, the first turn included. |
| When you cannot play | Standard DominoesDraw from the boneyard until a tile fits or the boneyard is empty. | Mexican TrainDraw one tile and play it if you can. Otherwise pass, and a marker goes on your train until you next play on it. |
| Doubles | Standard DominoesA double lies in the line like any other tile. | Mexican TrainA double gives you another play, which must cover it. Until it is covered, nobody may play anywhere else. |
| Length | Standard DominoesOne hand decides the game. | Mexican TrainA round for each double from 12-12 down to 0-0, 13 in all. Half the match, seven rounds, or a single round are options. |
| Scoring | Standard DominoesThe first player out wins and is credited with the pips left in the other hands; a blocked game goes to the lowest pip total. | Mexican TrainThe pips left in your hand are penalty points added to your total. After the last round the lowest total wins; equal lowest totals are a draw. |
| Other options | Standard DominoesBlock game, All Fives, Bergen, larger sets and partnership play can be chosen. | Mexican TrainNone of them combine with Mexican Train: everyone plays alone, and the set is always double-twelve. |
History
Mexican Train is played mainly in the United States, and the name is used almost only there. Accounts of its history are careful to hedge: American domino games are thought to descend from the Chinese game pai gow, which Chinese laborers may have brought to Latin America in the second half of the 19th century, and Cuban and other Latin American players used the tiles for Longana, a related game with personal trains but no shared one. The same accounts say that Americans came to call the game Mexican Train Dominoes because it was popular among Cuban, Mexican and other Latin American workers.
Written rules came late. Roy and Katie Parsons wrote down rules for the game in 1994, with thirteen rounds, the double-blank opening the last of them and the fewest points winning. Coins were the traditional markers on the trains.
Published rules differ in their details, and this game picks one version of each. The starting double is placed in the centre before the deal, so nobody has to search for it. Every turn is a single tile, including the first, where some rules let players start their own train with several tiles at once. A double must be covered straight away, by the player who laid it or by the players after them, before anything else is played; some rules leave an uncovered double for later, or allow only one double per turn.