Mexican Train Dominoes Strategy

Luck decides which tiles you pick up, but the way you play them decides your score. Two players with the same hand can finish a round 40 points apart. These tips are the habits that good Mexican Train players share. None of them need a head for numbers; they just need a minute of planning at the start of each round.

1. Plan Your Own Train Before You Play

Before your first move, sort your hand into a line: start with a tile that carries the engine's number, then find a tile that matches its other end, and so on. Try a few starting tiles and keep the longest line. That line is your plan for your own train.

For example, with the 9–9 as the engine, a hand holding the 9–4, 4–11, 11–2 and 2–7 has a four-tile line ready to go. Every tile in that line is a tile you will be able to play later without anybody's help.

2. Play Spare Tiles Somewhere Else

The tiles that are not in your line are the dangerous ones. They only leave your hand if a train somewhere happens to end in the right number. So whenever the Mexican Train or an open train shows a number one of your spare tiles can match, take the chance and play the spare there. Your own train will still be waiting for you next turn.

This is the single biggest difference between a beginner and a strong player. Beginners play on their own train every turn because it's comfortable. Experienced players save their own train for when nothing else fits.

3. Get the Marker Off Quickly

When you have to pass, your train gets an Open marker and anyone may play on it. Other players love an open train: it's a free place to dump their awkward tiles, and every tile they add changes your open number and can wreck your plan. When your train is open, playing on it should be near the top of your list.

4. Only Play a Double You Can Cover

A double that you can cover is a gift: you get two tiles out of your hand in one turn. A double you can't cover is trouble. You draw, likely pass, your train gets a marker, and the next player gets to choose how to cover it. Before you lay a double, check that you hold another tile with the same number.

The exception is late in a round. If another player is down to one or two tiles, an uncovered double makes everyone play on it first, and the player about to go out may have to draw instead.

5. Unload High Tiles While You Can

At the end of a round, every dot in your hand counts against you. A hand of five small tiles might cost 15 points; one 12–12 costs 24. When two plays are equally good for your plan, play the heavier tile. And remember the 0–0: in most games it's worth 50 points, so get rid of it the first time the end of a train shows a blank.

6. Watch the Other Players' Tile Counts

The number of tiles in each hand is always on display. When someone gets down to two or three tiles, the round is nearly over. Switch from planning to damage control: play your heaviest tiles first, even if that means breaking up your line. Ten points saved now is worth more than a tidy train you never get to finish.

7. Count What Has Been Played

A double-twelve set has exactly 13 tiles with each number. If you can see that most of the 8s are already on the table or in your hand, any train ending in an 8 is close to dead. That helps in two ways:

• Don't count on drawing the tile you need for a number that's nearly used up.
• When an opponent's train is open and they're close to going out, leaving a nearly used-up number at its end makes it hard for them to play there.

8. Use the First Turn Wisely

If your family plays the first-turn train rule (you may lay as many tiles as you like on your own train on your first turn), lay your whole planned line at once. It's the fastest way to empty your hand. Without that rule, start your own train early anyway, so you always have a place to play.

9. Learn From Every Draw

When a player draws, they had nothing to play on the trains they were allowed to use. If North draws when the Mexican Train ends in a 6, North probably has no 6s. You can use that later: leaving a 6 at the end of the Mexican Train is less likely to help North.

Practice Against the Computer

Our free Mexican Train game has three levels. On Hard, the computer players use most of the ideas on this page: they plan their own trains, play spare tiles elsewhere, and count the tiles that have been played. Tap Why? next to any computer move to see its reason, and tap Hint on your turn for a suggestion. If you want a game where doubles work differently, try Chicken Foot, and see the full rules if you need a refresher.