Official tournament rules.
Apple is not a sponsor of, and is not involved in, these tournaments in any way.
Sponsor
The tournaments in Boneyard City Dominoes are run by James Barker III LLC. To reach us, email support@boneyardcity.com or see the Support page.
How you play
Every tournament is played in the app, on your iPhone or iPad, against computer players. The app's rules engine deals and decides every game (the house rules, with the tournament rules below). There's no online play yet. Brackets against real people and the standings come with online play.
Before your first game in a bracket, the app shows these rules for that event and you accept them. The bracket keeps a Rules button so you can read them again.
The rules of every tournament game
Opening. Every tournament game opens on the double blank (0-0). Whoever holds it sets it down to start. If nobody was dealt the 0-0, the lowest double dealt opens instead (1-1, then 2-2, and so on). No doubles at all: the bones are washed and dealt again. The table says which double opened and why.
The rock. Whoever dominoes has the rock and leads the next hand with any bone. After a locked board, the lightest hand scores and the next hand opens on the lowest double again.
Scoring. Civilian events score when the ends add up to 10, 15, 20 and up: a 5 scores nothing. Mook Camp Fitness events score every 5. Your first score must be 10 or more to get on the board.
Play to. 150, or 250 at circuit stages 9 to 13 and the Hall of Fame Table. Under 80 (under 130 in a game to 250) when it ends is a skunk.
The clock. Every tournament game runs on the turn clock. It can't be switched off in a tournament. It's 20 seconds a turn against the easiest computers, down to 6 against the hardest (10 more with VoiceOver or Switch Control). It's the Community Service clock: run it out and you get a Community Service ticket, or in Mook Camp Fitness a Community Service dumbbell (5 more reps if you lose). Tournament tickets are fined double: each ticket or dumbbell costs $1,000 (play money, never more than you have). 5 in one tournament game is a Class F felony: a $20,000 fine instead (never more than you have), you're booked into the Boneyard County Jail, and your case goes to Felony court, the hardest court. The game counts as a loss. Once your case is closed, a felony comes off your record after 5 wins in a row against the computer at Cash or tournament tables with no timeouts of your own; a loss, a timeout, walking out or a new arrest starts the count over.
Formats
Events play 1 on 1 (8 players: quarterfinals, semifinals, final), 2 on 2 with a computer partner (8 teams, partners share a score), or Cut Throat 4 (16 players: four heats of 4, then a final table of 4). Lose a match and you're out. Cut Throat 3 is for regular tables only. A Jackpot Tournament is 1 on 1. A Boneyard Battles plays the format you pick.
Boneyard Battles series. On the first two rungs (Rookie and Hustler; Warm-Up and Light Work in Mook Camp Fitness) every match is one game. From the third rung up, a match is a series: best of 3, best of 5, then a best-of-7 final (Cut Throat: heats best of 3, the final table best of 7). Win most of the games to take the match. The series loser owes the match's stake once; a sweep owes it twice.
Who can play
Anyone with the app, at the event's rank. Tournaments are played in Civilian and Mook Camp Fitness only. Inmates don't play tournaments: while you're booked into the Boneyard County Jail, every event is closed to you, and your way out goes through the court and bail.
Under 18, or with no age given in the app's age check, the events played for a workout (the Iron Bracket and the Mook Camp Fitness Boneyard Battles) are played for bragging rights instead, and the Boneyard City Jackpot isn't offered.
Entry
The 13-stage Ring Tournament takes place in Boneyard County. The Boneyard City Grand Tournament and other City title events require City access, earned at a 100,000-Buck balance and kept afterward. Rank and stage qualifications still apply. Public fitness competitions retain their existing eligibility.
Every event is free to enter. There's no entry fee, in Boneyard Bucks or in real money. You never have to buy anything to play in a tournament.
The circuit is 13 tables, 0-0 to 6-6. Stage 1 opens at Rookie; each stage after it opens when you win the one before (stages 5 to 8 also need Hustler, stages 9 to 13 Professor). The Iron Bracket (Mook Camp Fitness) opens at Shark, and the Hall of Fame Table at Legend. Ranks grow with the Boneyard Bucks you earn by play.
The Boneyard Battles, one for Civilian and one for Mook Camp Fitness, are open to everyone: six rungs, climbed in order, in the format you pick, with a fresh climb every Monday.
A Boneyard City Jackpot Tournament opens when a jackpot is full. A jackpot fills with a cut of your Boneyard Bucks wins, matched by the house. Adults only.
What's on the line
Most events are played for bragging rights. The Iron Bracket (20 burpees a loss) and the Mook Camp Fitness Boneyard Battles (10 pushups a loss) are played for a workout, and under 18 for bragging rights. No event is played for money.
Prizes
Prizes are play money and items in the game: Boneyard Bucks, jewelry, the championship rings and Dr.'s excuses. Eligible championship title events and Jackpot wins award the next of the 784 championship rings only when every round meets that collection’s difficulty requirement. Collections 1–5 require Rookie or harder; 6–10 Hustler; 11–14 Shark; 15–19 Professor; 20–24 Kingpin; 25–28 Dominologist. Easier titles keep their normal prizes but do not advance a higher collection. Previously earned rings stay yours. Boneyard Battles award weekly mall items and Boneyard Bucks, not championship rings. A first title at circuit stages 1 to 4, 5 to 8 and 9 to 12 also gives that band's champion ring; the Iron Bracket gives the Iron Chrono, and the Hall of Fame Table the Hall of Fame Ring. A repeat title pays a tenth of the Boneyard Bucks. Every title-event match you win earns a Dr.'s excuse. A Jackpot Tournament's prize is its pot, in Boneyard Bucks.
Prizes have no cash value. They can't be cashed out, transferred or exchanged for anything of real value. Boneyard Bucks are play money: no real money can be won.
Leaving a bracket
Leaving before the bracket is decided is a forfeit: no prize. A Jackpot Tournament's pot is given up, and half of it rolls into the jackpot that's filling.
Changes and questions
These rules can change with an app update. Questions: support@boneyardcity.com or the Support page.
