How to Play All Fives Dominoes

All Fives is the domino game for people who like a little arithmetic with their dominoes. You still match numbers end to end, like in the simplest block game, but every time you play you look at the ends of the layout and add them up. When the total lands on 5, 10, 15, 20 or any other multiple of five, you score it on the spot. Many families know the same game as Muggins, and you will also hear it called Fives or Sniff. These are the rules our free online game uses, with notes where households often play differently.

What You Need

• A double-six domino set: 28 tiles, from the 0–0 (double blank) to the 6–6.
• Two players. (Three or four can play too, with five tiles each; our online game is you against the computer.)
• A pencil and paper, or a cribbage board, to keep score. Online, the score pad does it for you.

The Deal

Turn all the tiles face down and mix them around the table. Each player draws seven tiles and stands them on edge so the other player can't see them. The fourteen tiles left over stay face down to one side. This is the boneyard, and you will draw from it when you can't play.

Who Goes First

The player holding the highest double leads it: the 6–6 if someone has it, otherwise the 5–5, and so on down. If nobody was dealt a double at all (it happens about one hand in twenty), the player with the heaviest tile leads it instead, for example the 6–5. There is no need to reshuffle.

The lead counts like any other play. A 5–5 lead makes 10 and scores 10 points right away; a 6–4 lead also makes 10. A 6–6 lead makes 12, which doesn't score.

Playing a Tile

Players take turns. On your turn, play one tile from your hand so that one of its numbers matches the number on an open end of the layout, and lay the matching halves next to each other. A 5–3 can go next to an open 5 (leaving a 3 showing) or next to an open 3 (leaving a 5).

Doubles are laid crosswise, across the line instead of along it. A double at the end of a line still shows the same number for the next player to match.

If you have a tile that fits, you must play. You may choose which tile and which end; you don't have to take the biggest score.

The Spinner

The first double played in a hand is the spinner. It may be the lead, or it may turn up later. At first it behaves like any other double: tiles are played on its two ends, continuing the line. Once both of its ends are covered, the spinner opens up: tiles may now also be played on its two long sides, so the layout can grow in four directions, like a cross.

Only the first double spins. Every later double is laid crosswise at the end of its line and the line simply carries on from it. In our game the spinner sits in the middle of the table inside a brass ring, so you can always find it.

Counting the Open Ends

This is the heart of the game. After every play, add up the dots showing on every open end of the layout. If the total is a multiple of five, the player who just played scores that many points. Here are the counting rules, case by case:

A side with no tile on it doesn't count. When the spinner's two long sides first open up, they add nothing until somebody plays a tile there. That first side tile then counts its outer number.

A worked example

1. You lead the 5–5. It is alone, so it counts 10. You score 10.
2. The computer plays a 5–2 on one end. The spinner still has an open end, so it counts 10, plus the 2: 12. No score.
3. You play a 5–3 on the spinner's other end. Now both ends are covered, so the spinner stops counting: 2 + 3 = 5. You score 5.
4. The computer plays a 5–6 on one of the spinner's long sides: 2 + 3 + 6 = 11. No score.
5. You play a 2–4 on the 2: 4 + 3 + 6 = 13. No score.
6. The computer plays a 6–6 crosswise on the 6. A double at an end counts both halves: 4 + 3 + 12 = 19. No score.
7. You play a 3–1 on the 3: 4 + 1 + 12 = 17. No score.
8. The computer plays a 5–4 on the spinner's last long side: 4 + 1 + 12 + 4 = 21. No score.
9. You play a 1–5 on the 1. That end now shows 5 instead of 1, so the count goes up by 4: 4 + 5 + 12 + 4 = 25. You score 25.

In the online game you never have to do this sum in your head: the box in the corner of the table shows the count at all times, and when you pick up a tile, each place it fits shows what the count would become there.

When You Can't Play

If none of your tiles fit, draw from the boneyard, one tile at a time, until you get one that does, then play it. If the boneyard is empty and you still can't play, you pass and your opponent plays again.

The End of a Hand

Going out

The hand ends as soon as a player plays their last tile, often called going out or calling "domino". If that last play makes a multiple of five, it scores as usual. On top of that, the player who went out scores the dots left in the opponent's hand, rounded to the nearest five.

A blocked hand

Sometimes nobody can play and the boneyard is empty. Then the hand is blocked. Each player counts the dots in their hand, and the player with fewer dots scores the difference, rounded to the nearest five. If both hold the same number of dots, nobody scores.

Winning the Game

Shuffle and deal again for the next hand, and keep a running total. The first player to reach 150 points wins. In our game the win counts the moment you reach the target, even in the middle of a hand. Some families prefer 250 or more for a longer evening; you can choose 250 in Settings.

Scoring at a Glance

The Muggins Call

In the old style of play, nobody adds up the score for you. After each play you must announce your count out loud. If you forget, or don't notice that the ends make a multiple of five, your opponent may call "Muggins!" and take those points for themselves. Our game offers this as a house rule: after you play you tap Claim or No Score, and you can tap Call Muggins! when you think the computer missed a count. See the rule variations for the details and other house rules.

If you enjoy dominoes with a branching layout, try Chicken Foot or Mexican Train. If you like counting fifteens, you will feel at home with Cribbage.