Dominoes are a fun toy that can be played with by young and old alike. Many different games can be played with dominoes, and the possibilities for arranging them in straight and curved lines are endless. One domino can trigger a chain reaction that brings down the rest of the pieces in a beautiful display of rhythmic motion. This is what makes dominoes so enduringly popular, and it’s also what makes them such an effective teaching tool.

There are a wide variety of domino sets in use all over the world, and players can play a huge number of games with them. The most common type of domino game is called a layout game, which involves building a line of dominoes and then knocking them over to score points. There are two main types of layout games: Block games and Draw games.

In the Block game, each player starts with a set of dominoes and plays them until they run out. Each domino has a number of dots, or pips, on either side that indicate its value in the chain; the total amount of pips on the two matching ends of a domino is known as its rank or weight. The higher the rank or weight, the more valuable the domino.

When a player can no longer place a domino, they must “chip out” and pass play to the other players. Unless they have already “chipped out”, each player must then choose a domino to add to their layout, and this must be positioned so that its two matching sides are touching and either all the pips on its front or back are visible. A double cannot be placed perpendicular to another domino, but must always be crossed-ways over it.

Nick developed his method of domino making using only the tools he had in his grandmother’s garage – a drill press, radial arm saw, scroll saw, belt sander and welder. His goal was to make a set of dominoes that were both easy enough for amateur craftsmen to follow, and detailed enough to demonstrate the level of craftsmanship required to create them.

He was also aiming to create a domino that was small enough to fit in his confined workshop but large enough to command respect for the materials and detailed workmanship used to make it. In his version of the Domino Effect, he was also trying to modernize the Domino’s brand and create a sense of style that would attract discerning customers and generate loyalty.

Domino’s was struggling with declining sales and an aging workforce, and it needed to take a bold step in order to survive. That meant changing the way it delivered pizza, but it also meant taking risks with other new services. The company experimented with a drone delivery service, and a Domino’s robot. Ultimately, these experiments were just window dressing on an increasingly unprofitable business. Domino’s had to start delivering real value to its customers and its shareholders.