Mexican Train Dominoes Rules: How to Play

In Mexican Train, every player builds a line of dominoes, called a train, out from a central double, and tries to be the first to play every domino in their hand. Each round, everyone else scores the pips (dots) left in their hand. After 13 rounds, the lowest total wins.

It's a relaxed game for 2 to 8 players, easy to teach and good for mixed ages. The main rules to learn are when you can play on someone else's train and what happens when a double goes down. Each one has its own step below, and the scoring section covers how to count up at the end of a round.

The goal

You want to finish the whole game with as few points as possible. Points are bad here: they're the pips on the dominoes you're still holding when a round ends.

Each round, you try to get rid of all your dominoes before anyone else. If you do, you score nothing for that round. If someone beats you to it, you score the total pips left in your hand, so the high dominoes are the ones you most want to unload.

A full game is 13 rounds. Each round starts from a different double, from the double-12 down to the double-blank, and the scores add up from round to round.

What you need

• A double-12 domino set. It has 91 dominoes, one of every pairing of 0 (blank) to 12 pips. Many sets use a different color for each number, which helps a lot when you're scanning for a match.
• A hub, or centerpiece. This is a round piece with a slot in the middle for the starting double and slots around the edge for each train. Many sets include one. If yours doesn't, place the starting double in the middle of the table and start the trains around it.
• Train markers. You need one marker for each player, plus one to mark the Mexican train. Some sets include small train-shaped markers; coins or buttons work just as well.
• A score sheet and a pen, or the Mexican Train score keeper on your phone. There's also a printable sheet among the free score sheets.

A few terms come up again and again. The engine is the double that starts the round, placed in the hub. A train is a line of dominoes running from the hub, each one matching the end of the one before. The boneyard is the face-down pile of dominoes left over after the deal, which you draw from.

Setup and dealing

Take the double for the round out of the set and put it in the hub. In the first round, that's the double-12. Turn the rest of the dominoes face down and shuffle them around the table.

Each player draws a hand from the face-down dominoes. The number depends on how many of you are playing, and it varies between sets. These are the most common counts:

Leaflets from other makers differ, and some give more dominoes to smaller groups. Use the counts in your own set's rules if they came with one. The ones left over form the boneyard.

Stand your dominoes on edge so only you can see their faces. Sort them as you like. Many players line up the chain they could play from the engine before the round starts.

If you'd rather draw the engine than pull it out first, everyone draws their hand from the full set, and the player holding the round's double places it in the hub. If no one has it, players take turns drawing one domino at a time from the boneyard, going around the table, until someone finds it. Play then starts with the player to the left of whoever placed the engine.

A turn, step by step

1. Start your own train

   Play goes to the left (clockwise). Your personal train is the line closest to you, and only you can play on it while it's unmarked. To start it, play a domino with one end matching the engine, such as a 12-5 on the double-12. After that, each domino you add must match the open end of your train: here, the next one needs a 5.

   On each turn, you play one domino.

2. Choose where to play

   You can play on any of three places: your own train, the Mexican train, or another player's train that has a marker on it.

   The Mexican train is a shared train that anyone can play on at any time. It starts like the others, with a domino matching the engine. Sets with a special marker for it place that marker at its start, so everyone knows which line it is.

3. Can't play? Draw one, then mark your train

   If you have nothing that fits anywhere, draw one domino from the boneyard. If it plays, you can play it right away. If it doesn't, put your marker at the end of your train and your turn is over.

   A marker means your train is open: everyone can now play on it. The next time you play on your own train, take your marker off and it's yours alone again.

   If the boneyard is empty, you skip the draw, put out your marker and pass.

4. Cover every double

   A double is placed crosswise, and it must be covered, meaning someone plays a matching domino on it, before anyone can play anywhere else.

   When you play a double, you cover it yourself first: play a domino that matches it, here a 1-6 on the double-1. If you can't, draw one domino and play it if it fits. If it still doesn't, put out your marker. Now every player, in turn, must cover that double before playing anywhere else, and anyone who can't must draw and put out their marker.

   Some groups play this a little differently: after you lay a double, your extra domino can go on any train you're allowed to play on, as long as someone covers the double before other play moves on.

5. Go out to end the round

   When you play your last domino, the round ends at once. You score 0, and everyone else counts the pips left in their hand.

   If the boneyard is empty and nobody can play, the round is blocked. It ends there, and everyone, you included, scores the pips in their hand.

Here's how a few turns can go in a four-player round. You start your train with a 12-5. Player 2 has no 12 at all, draws one domino that doesn't fit either, and puts out a marker. Player 3 starts the Mexican train with a 12-8. Player 4 now has a choice of three places: their own train, the Mexican train's open 8, or Player 2's marked train. When Player 2 later plays on their own train, the marker comes off and that train is closed to everyone else again.

Two habits keep the game moving. Say "marker" or "open" out loud when you put your marker down, so nobody misses a chance to play there. And when a double is waiting to be covered, check it before anything else on your turn: until someone covers it, it's the only place anyone can play.

For the next round, the engine is the next double down: double-11, then double-10, and so on to the double-blank in round 13. Gather all the dominoes, set the new engine in the hub, shuffle and draw new hands.

Scoring

Scoring in Mexican Train is short and simple, and done at the end of each round:

• The player who goes out scores 0.
• Everyone else scores the total pips on the dominoes left in their hand. Add up both ends of each domino: a 6-4 counts 10.
• The double-blank counts 0 in the standard game.
• Keep a running total. After 13 rounds, the player with the lowest total wins.

Because the double-12 alone is worth 24, a single high domino can cost you more than a handful of small ones. That's why players try to unload big doubles early.

The score keeper below tracks every player's running total, reminds you which double starts each round, and announces the winner after round 13.

You can also open it on its own page, the Mexican Train score keeper, or browse all tools for the other games on the site.

A worked example

Round 2 is over, and Player 3 has just gone out, so they score 0. You're left holding four dominoes.

Another player was caught with only two dominoes, but they were both big ones.

Here's how the round might go on the score sheet, with the fourth player holding a single 3-2:

Each number is added to that player's total from round 1. Player 4 holding just 5 points shows why it pays to get your hand down to small dominoes near the end of a round, even if you can't go out. In the score keeper, type each player's pip count for the round and it updates the running totals for you.

House rules and variants

Strategy tips

• Plan your train before you play. At the start of a round, sort your hand into the longest chain you can build from the engine. Keep it for your own train, since no one else can play on it while it's unmarked.
• Use the Mexican train and open trains for your leftovers. Dominoes that don't fit your chain are best played elsewhere. Every domino you place somewhere else keeps your own chain intact.
• Unload high dominoes early. If the round ends suddenly, a hand full of 10s, 11s and 12s is expensive. Play big pips when you have a choice.
• Play doubles when you can cover them. A double you can't cover hands everyone else a problem, but it also puts a marker on your train. A double you can cover yourself is a free extra play.
• Watch for markers. An open train gives you more places to play. Your own marker does the same for everyone else, so get it off as soon as you can.
• Count what's showing. There are only 13 dominoes with any given number. If most of the 7s are on the table, holding a 7 is risky.

FAQ

Keep score with the Mexican Train score keeper, check the scoring rules, or try a card game: how to play rummy and canasta rules.