How the house plays

The house rules.

Shared table rules across Citizen, Mook Camp Fitness and DCF. Here is how a game is played at every table.

Jump to: Citizen · Mook Camp Fitness · Inmate · DCF Inmate Gym

Every table

Players and bones

Two to four players. Play one on one, Cut Throat (three or four, everyone for themselves), or two on two. Partners sit across from each other and share one score. Everyone gets seven bones. With two or three players, a table can deal nine.

The lead

The first hand is led by the house double: double six at Civilian and Mook Camp Fitness tables, double blank at Inmate tables, at the Spot and in felony court. Every tournament game opens on the double blank (0-0). If nobody has the house double, the next double in line leads (5-5, then 4-4 … after a double six; 1-1, then 2-2 … after a double blank). If nobody has a double, the bones are reshuffled and dealt again. The table says which double opened and why.

After that, whoever dominoes has the rock and leads the next hand with any bone. After a locked board, the lead goes back to the house double.

The spinner

The first double on the board is the spinner. Once both of its sides are covered, it opens up and down too. Then there are four ends.

Scoring on the ends

After each play, add up the open ends. A double on an end counts both halves. A valid score is a multiple of 5 that meets the selected minimum score and, until you are on the board, the get-on requirement. Minimum 10 allows 10, 15, 20, 25 and higher multiples of 5; 5 earns zero in every mode using that setting.

Getting on the board

Your first score has to reach the table's get-on number. Smaller scores don't count until you're on. At a table that gets on with 0, everyone is on the board from the deal.

Drawing and passing

Draw only when you can't play. Pick any bone from the yard. If the yard is empty and you can't play, pass. If everyone passes in a row with the yard empty, the board is locked. The player with the lowest pip total wins the hand and counts the opponents’ remaining pips, rounded to the nearest 5, with a rounded award of 5 suppressed when the minimum score is 10, and subject to its get-on minimum. Partners share the score and count only the opposing team’s bones. If the lowest hands tie, redeal with no points or payout. Match stakes settle only when the target score is reached. Play 2 Pay awards points only; the agreed expense is settled outside the game.

Dominoing

Play your last bone and you domino. You score the pips left in the other hands, rounded to the nearest 5; a rounded award of 5 becomes zero when the minimum score is 10. With partners, only the opponents' hands count. If you aren't on the board yet, the count only scores if it reaches the get-on number.

The doubles bonus

Dealt four doubles? Play all four without drawing for +50. Dealt five or more? Choose to reshuffle, or play them for +100. You have to be on the board to collect.

Winning and skunks

First to 150 wins (some tables play to 250). A loser under 80 (under 130 in a game to 250) is skunked and owes double.

The wash

Before every deal the bones are washed. After a domino, everyone but the rock washes. On the first hand and after a locked board, everyone washes.

The gameplay rulesets

The numbers that change by mode
Setting	Citizen	Mook Camp Fitness	Inmate	DCF Inmate Gym
First lead	Double six	Double six	Double blank	Double blank
Smallest score	10	5	10	10
Get on with	10	10	15	0
Captured pips round to	5	5	5	5
Turn clock	20–10 s*	10 s	20–10 s*	20 s

The turn clock

* Tournaments and cash games (a Cash bet in the city, canteen inside) run one clock, set by your level: 20 seconds a turn at the easiest level, down to 6 at the hardest. It can't be changed.

Friendly games (for bragging rights, for the yard, for a workout, or Play 2 Pay) are the only tables where you set the clock yourself.

Community Service: every Cash bet runs the clock, with no switch: 20 seconds a turn at Rookie, 17 at Hustler, 14 at Shark, 11 at Professor, 8 at Kingpin and 6 at Dominologist (VoiceOver or Switch Control adds 10). With 2 or more players at the table the clock is always on: 20 seconds a turn when you pass one phone. Court (an open ticket or a felony on your file), every table inside DCF, and every tournament game always run the clock, with no switch. Court is stricter: municipal 9 seconds, civil 8, misdemeanor 7, felony 5. Only a friendly game against the computer can switch it off, and it's off until you turn it on. When a computer runs out its clock at your Cash table and you've had no timeouts there that game, one of your Community Service tickets is expunged (once a game). Every computer timeout also goes in the Clock Jar: win the game and it pays you each timeout's fine on a Cash bet (in soups on a canteen bet), or one Dr.'s excuse (a Lay-in Slip inside) a game at any other table, up to 3 a week. A loss pays nothing, and court tables don't count. At a tournament table each of your tickets (or Mook Camp dumbbells) is fined $1,000, and 5 in one tournament game is a Class F felony: a $20,000 fine, you're booked, and your case goes straight to Felony court (see the tournament rules).

There's never a clock in school: the College and the Education Room.

These are the house settings. Each mode's table settings can change the get-on number and the count. The Gym clocks are Community Service (Mook Camp Fitness) and Hard Time (DCF Inmate Gym). A citizen's penalties are Community Service; a prisoner's are Hard Time.

Citizen

Double six leads the first hand.
Score multiples of 5 of at least 10 by default; the selected minimum-score setting controls this.
Your first score must be 10 or more to get on the board.
Captured pips round to the nearest 5. With a minimum score of 10, an award rounded to 5 scores zero; 10, 15, 20, 25 and higher multiples of 5 count. Captured points can get you on the board if they meet the get-on minimum.
Table settings: get on with 0, 5, 10, 15 or 20. Minimum score 5 or 10.

Mook Camp Fitness

Citizen rules, on the clock. The domino count rounds to the nearest 5.
Community Service: 10 seconds a turn. A table can set 3 to 60 seconds, or turn it off. Run out and it's Community Service: a dumbbell, 5 more reps if you lose.
Table settings: get on with 0, 5, 10, 15 or 20. Minimum score 5 or 10.

Inmate

Double blank leads the first hand.
Score multiples of 5 on the ends, 10 or more.
Your first score must be 15 or more to get on the board.
Captured pips round to the nearest 5. With a minimum score of 10, an award rounded to 5 scores zero; 10, 15, 20, 25 and higher multiples of 5 count. Captured points can get you on the board if they meet the get-on minimum.
Table settings: get on with 10, 15 or 20. Minimum score 5 or 10.

DCF Inmate Gym

Inmate rules, on the clock. No minimum to get on the board: everyone's on from the deal.
Hard Time: 20 seconds by default. DCF requires an active clock; the setup screen shows the applicable duration.
Table settings: get on with 0, 10, 15 or 20. Minimum score 5 or 10.

The Gym clock

Every turn starts with a full clock. Run out and the clock records a penalty and starts over. A citizen's penalties are Community Service: tickets at Civilian tables, dumbbells in Mook Camp Fitness. A prisoner's penalties are Hard Time: dumbbells inside DCF, and tickets on a canteen bet. Cash-stake tickets can also carry the stated table fine. Your turn isn't skipped. Dumbbells cost no points. Each one adds 5 reps to your workout if you lose (30 seconds on a timed one, half a mile on a run or walk). Five dumbbells in one turn forfeits the game.

Play money only

Cash bets at Civilian tables use Dominologist Dollars. Inside, a canteen bet uses Commissary goods from your locker, and the Gym modes are played for a workout. Dollars, money on your books and every item in the game are play money with no cash value. They can't be cashed out, transferred or exchanged for anything of real value, and no real money can be won. The game is intended for adults 18 and older; final store ratings will be confirmed at release.

Tournaments have their own official rules.