Muggins Introduction

Muggins, also known as "All Fives", is a 2-person game played with a set of double-six dominoes. It is considered by many to be one of the very best domino games. It plays much like Draw, except that the goal of the game is not just to go out, but to make the open ends of the layout add up to 5, or a multiple of five. Muggins is one of a family of games knows as "point games".

Setup

After shuffling the dominoes face down on the table, each player draws 7 to make up their hand. The remainder of the dominoes make up the boneyard, and are held in reserve to be drawn upon at need.

Play

The first round beings with the player with the highest double laying down this domino first. This initial double is known as the spinner. Only the spinner can have subsequent dominoes played on its 4 sides.

Each player adds a domino to an open end of the layout, if they can. If a player is unable to make a move, they must draw dominoes from the boneyard until they can make a move. If there are no dominoes left, then the player must pass.

A player cannot draw from the boneyard if they have a domino that can be played.

The object of the game is to make the open ends of the layout (known as the board count)add up to 5 or a multiple of five (5, 10, 15, 20, etc.) The player who makes such a score receives that number of points. The highest point total possible is 35.

After a domino is played, the player announces the board count. They score points if the board count is a multiple of 5.

At any time there may be 2, 3, or 4 open ends. When a double is played, all of its pips count toward the total.

Examples 1. If the first domino placed is a 6-6, the board count is 12 and the player scores nothing. At this point all sides of the 6-6 are available for play. The next two dominoes played off the 6-6 should be played off the sides as shown in figure 3. 2. If the second domino placed is a 6-3, the board count is 15 (6 + 6 + 3) and the player scores 15 points. At this point three sides of the 6-6 are available for play, as well as the 3. 3. If a 6-2 is played on the 6-6, the board count is 5 (2 + 3) and the player scores 5 points. The top and bottom of the initial 6-6 are still available for play, as are the 2 and 3.

Page 1 4. If a 6-5 is played on the 6-6, the board count is 10 (2 + 3 + 5) and the player scores 10 points. 5. If a 5-5 is played on the 5, the board count is 15 (2 + 3 + 5 + 5) and the player scores 15 points. This domino is laid perpendicular to the row. Subsequent dominoes will be laid straight to extend the row in the same direction. (figure not shown)

Ending A Hand

A hand ends either when a player plays all their dominoes, or when a game is blocked, at which time the lowest hand wins the total of their opponents points (minus any points in their own hand). All players retain the points that they have attained during the hand, but only the winner gets the bonus points at the end of a hand. A hand will also end if a player reaches the total number of points needed to win the game.

The player who lost the previous hand begins the next hand by placing any domino to start play. It does not have to be a double. Once the first double is played, it becomes the spinner.

Winning A Game

A game is traditionally played to 100 points. Once a player reaches or exceeds this total, the game ends. This can occur in the middle of a hand.

Variations 1. One variation is to limit the number of dominoes drawn from the boneyard during a player's turn to just 1 rather than having them draw dominoes until they can play. If, after drawing one domino, the player still cannot play, their turn ends and it's their opponent's turn. 2. "All Threes" plays identically to Muggins, but scoring is done on multiples of 3, rather than 5.

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