How to Play Train Dominoes

Build trains of matching dominoes and be the first to play all of your dominoes in each round. At the end of the game, the player with the lowest total pip count (dots on the dominoes) wins.

Personal Train: A player’s private train; only that player may play on it unless it is marked open.While the train is not open, the marker remains at the hub.

Shared Train: A public train anyone can play on at any time.Every game has one shared train.

Open Train: A personal train becomes open when its owner cannot play. The player indicates this by moving their train marker from the hub onto the train, allowing other players to play on it. Once the owner is able to play, their train becomes private again and the marker returns to the hub.

Shuffle dominoes face down. Each player draws tiles based on player count:

2 - 4 players: 15 tiles

5 - 6 players: 12 tiles

7 - 8 players: 10 tiles

Remaining tiles form the boneyard.

The first round begins with the highest double in the set, the Double-12, placed in the center of the hub. This starting double is called the engine. If no player has the engine, tiles are drawn from the boneyard until it appears.

Once the engine is in play, each player takes a turn, either playing a domino that matches the engine to start their train or playing on the shared train. If a player cannot play, they draw one tile from the boneyard. If the drawn tile can be played, it is played immediately; if not, the player marks their personal train open and ends their turn.

On a player’s turn, the player places one domino that matches the end of the player’s personal train, the shared train, or any open train.

If unable to play, the player must draw one domino. If the drawn domino can be played, the player plays it. If not, the player marks the personal train open, and the turn ends.

When a player plays a double, that player must immediately satisfy (match) it by playing another domino. If unable to do so, the player draws one domino and plays it on the double if possible. If the drawn domino cannot be played, the player marks the personal train open, and the turn ends.

An unsatisfied double takes priority over all other plays. The next player must attempt to satisfy it before making any other play, either with a domino from the player’s hand or by drawing a domino. Play continues in turn until the double is satisfied.

The round ends when a player has no dominoes remaining, or when no plays remain and the boneyard is empty. Each player then totals the pips on the dominoes remaining in hand for scoring.

Play continues with the next highest double as the engine, working down to Double-0. The player with the lowest cumulative score at the end of all rounds wins.