The origin of the modern domino dates all the way back to the Song Dynasty of China, with the first recorded mention of dominos coming in the 13th century AD. It is unclear if these dominos had any colors, but there were only 21 to a set, representing each combination for rolling two six sided dice. Conquinidentally, this implies that Song Chinese DnD was played with the roll 4d6 method to generate stats.

Dominos were first mentioned in Europe from Italian records in the 18th century AD and went by the domino name. This name was derived from the black and white masks and clothes of the Carnival festival, so the color was probably the same. There is no direct link between Chinese and Italian dominos, but it stands to reason the game may have been brought back to Europe by traders, merchants, and missionaries. 

The game of Dominos as we know it today originated from the method of play popular in the 1880’s, where it was commonly played in coffee houses of Victorian France and Belgium. The game was brought to America by the English, and by the 1800’s several published rule sets existed. Modern styles of play, such as Five Up, Mexican Train, and Chicken Foot were developed in the last 60 or so years, utilizing modern expanded sets of dominos.

• Variant Rory 📚