Muggins dominoes
How do you play Muggins Dominoes?
In short. This member of the Fives family of games is also sometimes known as Five Up or All Fives, but is called Muggins here because the names Five Up and All Fives are also used for other games in which one or all doubles are "spinners" (can be built from in all four directions).
Muggins is the game played without a spinner.
The goal of the Muggins Domino game is to score points by adding to the domino trains, so the ends of all the trains add up to be a multiple of five.
Players score for making the two ends of the layout add up to a multiple of five, and also whoever runs out of dominoes scores for those remaining in the other players' hands.
The player with the most points wins the game.
Where is Muggins played and what else is it called?
This member of the Fives family of games is also sometimes known as Five Up or All Fives, but is called Muggins here because the names Five Up and All Fives are also used for other games in which one or all doubles are "spinners" (can be built from in all four directions). Muggins and Sniff are played more often in Britain and Europe, while All Fives and Five Up are played in the United States.
How does a game of Muggins start?
The starting player puts one domino in the middle. This does not need to be a double.
How do you score points in Muggins?
Players score for making the two ends of the layout add up to a multiple of five, and also whoever runs out of dominoes scores for those remaining in the other players' hands. Doubles count as the total of their pips for scoring purposes if they are at one end of the layout. The highest score in one play is 20 points, which is obtained by having the [6-6] tile on one end and the [4-4] tile on the other.
How are doubles handled in Muggins?
Doubles are turned crosswise but are not played as spinners. Doubles count as the total of their pips for scoring purposes if they are at one end of the layout.
What happens when the hand is finished?
When the hand is finished, either by being dominoed or by being blocked, the pips on the tiles remaining in each hand are totaled and the total is rounded up or down to the nearest multiple of five. For example, a hand with [1-2] would round up to five points, while [1-1] would round down to zero points. These points are then subtracted from that player's score.
Points scored by the very first tile
| Opening tile | Pips | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 6-4 | 10 | 10 |
| 5-5 | 10 | 10 |
| 5-0 | 5 | 5 |
| 4-1 | 5 | 5 |
| 3-2 | 5 | 5 |