Mexican Train dominoes rules

A double-twelve set of 91 tiles, where each end shows 0 to 12 pips. Many sets come with a hub for the center and small train markers, but coins work fine. You also need a way to keep a running score for 13 rounds.

1. 1Take out the round's engine and put it in the middle. In round one it's the 12-12, then 11-11, all the way down to 0-0 in round 13.
2. 2Turn the rest of the tiles face down and mix them. Anyone can mix; there's no real dealer, since everyone draws their own hand.
3. 3Everyone draws a hand (see the table). The rest stay face down to draw from later.
4. 4Pick who goes first in round one (for example, everyone flips a tile and the highest goes first). Each new round, the first turn moves one seat to the left. Play always moves clockwise. Some tables let the player with the highest double or the most pips start instead.

Each player builds their own train out from the engine, and there's one shared train everyone can use: the Mexican Train.

1. 1On your turn, play one matching tile: on your own train, on the Mexican Train, or on any train with a marker.
2. 2Can't play? Draw one tile. If it plays, play it. If not, pass and put a marker on your train.
3. 3Your marker comes off when you play on your own train again.

By both the box rules and Pagat's, you can't put a marker on your train by choice. It goes on only when you can't play. A marker opens your train to everyone else, but it doesn't lock you out: you can still play on the Mexican Train or on another train with a marker, and your last tile can go on any of them.

When someone plays a double, it has to be covered (a matching tile played on it) before anyone plays anywhere else. By the box rules, the player who played it plays again right away to cover it. If they can't, they draw one tile; if it fits, they play it on the double, and if not, they put a marker on their train. Then the next player must cover it, and so on around the table.

• Each player draws just one tile per turn while a double waits, not until they find one that fits.
• If your last tile is a double, Pagat's rules let you go out on it, and the round ends. Some tables say a double always has to be covered, so you can't finish on one.
• If every tile of that number is already on the table, nobody can cover the double. Pagat's rules make no exception: the double stays open, everyone draws one tile a turn until the draw pile runs out, and then the round ends blocked and everyone counts. At some tables the double is “dead” instead, and everyone plays on the other trains again.

Many Mexican Train arguments come down to one of these. Settle them before the first round and the game runs smoothly.

The round ends when someone plays their last tile, or when nobody can play and the draw pile is empty. Everyone else counts the pips left in their hand, and that goes on their score. Points are bad here.

After 13 rounds, add up each player's total. The lowest total wins.