Domino Dynasty – WorldWinner Mobile

Overview

Outscore your computer opponent in this new take on Dominoes Fives. Don’t forget to pack your Firecrackers!

The goal of the game is to earn 100 points before your opponent does. The game is played in a series of rounds over 5 minutes. The game ends immediately if:

The player or AI wins - either player meets or exceeds 100 points
The time expires

Rules

At the start of the game, both players (the AI opponent and the human player) draw 7 domino tiles. The player goes first, then both players take turns playing dominoes on the board. The first tile the player places will be their highest double. The player is guaranteed to have at least one double tile each round.

Deck

The deck is made up of 28 unique tiles. Each tile has two ends. Each end shows dots (pips) representing a value of 0 – 6. Each value appears 7 times, each time opposite another unique value.

At the start of a round, each player draws 7 tiles leaving 14 tiles in the deck.

Placing

At the start of the game, the player goes first and places a double-sided tile on the board. At the start of each subsequent round, the player who played the last domino in the previous round goes first (usually this is the player who went out in the previous round). Note - placing this first domino can score points.

The other player must then place a domino from their hand following these rules:

A domino placed onto the board must connect to the dominoes already on the board.
Dominoes only connect at their ends (the short side) except for double-sided dominoes which have special rules (see below).
A domino can only be connected if the value of the connecting ends match.
The player will be able to drag any tile they want but they can only place valid tiles.

Double-sided dominoes are special in a few ways:

When placed, they are connected in the middle of the long side.
When placed, the value of one side (not doubled) must match the end to which the double-sided domino connects.
Once on the board, a double-sided domino must first be connected on the opposite open long side.
The first double-sided domino placed on the board is special, it is called the “spinner.”
The spinner is special because after the long side has been connected, players can play to the short sides to create branches. Since branches can only be formed off the spinner, there should only ever be 2 branches in the game. Therefore, there should only ever be 2, 3 or 4 open ends.
All double-sided pieces played after the spinner can only be connected to on the long side.

Counting

Points are scored during the game whenever a player connects a new domino and the sum of all the ends equals a number that is divisible by five.

An end occurs when a domino is only connected to one other domino. Once a domino has been connected to two dominos, it is no longer an end. While it is possible to connect to a double-sided domino more than twice, a double-sided domino is no longer considered an end once it has two connections.

When a double-sided domino is an end, it counts as the value of both its sides. Therefore, an open double-sided six is counted as twelve, an open double-sided five is counted as ten and so on.

The Boneyard/Drawing

When it is a player’s turn but none of the dominoes in the player’s hand have a valid placement on the board, that player is forced to draw.

When the human player must draw, The Boneyard UI element appears on screen and the player must tap it to draw a new domino from the deck into their hand. If the newly drawn domino cannot be placed, then the player must draw again. The player keeps drawing until they draw a domino that can be placed. Once a domino with a valid placement is drawn, The Boneyard UI element disappears, and the player must continue their turn by placing the drawn domino.

If the AI player must draw, it draws automatically. The AI should draw one tile at a time with a second in between each draw if more than one tile must be drawn. The AI continues playing once it draws a valid placement.

If a player needs to draw a domino from the Boneyard but it is empty, then play passes back to the other player who gets to take another turn. If neither player can play and the Boneyard is empty, then the board is considered “Locked.” A message should be displayed that says, “Locked Board” and the round should end. Neither player earns points for having more tiles than their opponent when a Locked Board occurs. The human player will always go first in the round after a Locked Board. Note - it should be incredibly rare for the deck to run out, but it can happen.

Against AI

A round ends when either player “goes out,” meaning they play all the dominoes in their hand. The player who did not go out discards their hand and the player who went out scores points for the leftover tiles. Each remaining tile will score 5 points for the other player. After a round ends, if neither player has reached 100 points, a new round starts with each player drawing 7 new tiles.

Using Firecrackers:

"Firecrackers” can be used once per round by each player (this includes AI)
The player will drag the Firecracker from their hands and onto the tile they want to destroy
When that piece is “blown up”, it sends the tile back to the Boneyard and the piece before it becomes the new playable end
Firecrackers can be used before the user makes their domino move, not after (placing a tile will end that player’s turn)
Firecrackers cannot be used on the spinner

Game End Conditions

As soon as either player meets or exceeds 100 points, the game ends and transitions to the Results Screen.
As soon as the timer expires, the game ends and transitions to the Results Screen.
As soon as the board becomes locked, the round ends and a new round starts.
If the player chooses to end the game early using the Settings button, the game ends immediately and the Results Screen is shown with an automatic loss being awarded.

Scoring

Points are earned during play for the following:

Whenever a player places a domino on the board, if all the open ends sum to a number divisible by five, then that player scores points equal to that sum.
The Sum UI text should be highlighted when scoring occurs.
At the end of a round, the player who went out scores 5 points per domino in the opposing player’s hand.
If the human player won the game of Dominos, then they earn a “Spread Bonus.” The Spread Bonus is equal to the difference in points between the human player and the AI player. If the human player loses the game, no Spread Bonus is earned.
- Example – The human player won with 100 points and the AI had 55 points. The Spread Bonus = 45 points.
- If the game runs out of time before a winner is declared, the human player will still earn a Spread Bonus if the game ended while they were ahead.
After winning a game, the human player earns a time bonus based on how many seconds are remaining. The time bonus earned is equal to 0.5 points per second remaining multiplied by their score as a percentage (rounded up).
- Example 1 – A player wins the game with 100 points and there are 2 minutes and 15 seconds left on the clock. The player earns 135 * 0.5 * 1.00 = 68 points.
- Example 2 – A player wins the game with 110 points and there are 3 minutes and 38 seconds left on the clock. The player earns 218 * 0.5 * 1.1 = 120.
After losing a game, the human player earns a time bonus similar to the above, but with a multiplier of 0.25 instead of 0.5.

Scoring with Firecrackers:

If the user is able to play a tile after using Firecrackers and not before, the user gains 5 points to their score
The user will score points if the use of their Firecracker results in the sum being a multiple of five

Tips

Score points equal to the sum of the open ends when they equal a multiple of 5.
Score bonus points for the amount you beat your AI opponent and how quickly you do it.
Use the Firecracker to clear an end for you to play on and keep yourself from having to draw.
Use Firecrackers to score points by using them to change the sum of open ends.
You only have one Firecracker per round, so use them wisely.