Here is a brief summary of the main differences between the three main dominoes variants available here at Goldtoken.
Note that each variant can be played with the double-six, double-nine or double-twelve set, so there are actually nine different game types available in total.
| Dominoes | Muggins | Fives and Threes |
| d6 | d9 | d12 | d6 | d9 | d12 | d6 | d9 | d12 |
| Maximum number of players | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 8 |
| Points needed to win | 100 or more | exactly 61 | exactly 91 | exactly 121 |
| Game can end mid-round | no | yes |
| Two ends add up to multiple of 5 | - | 5 points each | 1 point each |
| Two ends add up to multiple of 3 | - | 1 point each |
| First bone played | Highest double | any |
| Count points in hand at round end | yes | no |
The following rules are the same for all the variants here at Goldtoken but may be different from other variants played elsewhere:
- When you cannot go, you must continue drawing from the boneyard until you can go, or the boneyard is empty. Some people play that you just knock and pass to the next player, other people play that you draw a single bone, but do not play it immediately.
- In Fives and Threes, if neither player can go and the boneyard is empty, the player with the fewest number of points in hand gets a point. Some people play that no point is awarded in this situation.
- You can only play off the two long sides of a double. In some variants (often called cross dominoes) you can play off all four ends of the first double played.
- After the second bone is played, the next player can play off either end of the chain. Some people play that you must play off both sides (or all four sides in cross dominoes) of the first double before you can play onto another bone.
- If a player plays the last bone in their hand, and the boneyard is not empty, the points in the boneyard are not scored. Some people play that these points are also added onto the winners score for that round.
- The first player of each round is determined by who has the highest double in their hand. Some people play that after the first round, play simply passes to the next player in sequence.
- In Fives and Threes, it is possible for points to be awarded for the round end and for the multiples of 3 and 5 at the same time. If the latter takes the score to exactly that required to win, the points for the round end are still awarded. Some people play that round end points are not awarded in this situation. Note that this can occasionally lead to a game ending in a draw or the winner having 62, 92 or 122 points at the end of a game.
Please note this guide is intended to be a quick reference to remind people of the differences between the different sets of rules. To ensure that you fully understand all the rules you should make sure you have read the official rules for each game type:
