OBJECTIVE OF BENDOMINO: The first player to 100 points or more wins
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2 – 4 players
CONTENTS: 28 Bendominos
TYPE OF GAME: Tile placement
AUDIENCE: Ages 6+
INTRODUCTION OF BENDOMINO
Bendomino is a tile placement game published by Blue Orange. It plays like classic domino games with a twist… or a slight curve to put it more precisely. Each Bendomino tile curves just enough to make the growing chain of tiles turn into a complex puzzle as the game progresses. Players will need to not only find tiles that match according to number, but they will need to fit on the chain as well.
CONTENTS
Bendominos comes with 28 Bendomino tiles. Each tile has two halves that contain a certain number of pips. Pips are the dots that represent a numerical value on the tile. The Bendominos range from 0/0 to 6/6.
THE PLAY
SETUP
Put all 28 of the Bendominos face down in the center of the table and give them a good shuffle. Players draw a specific number of Bendominos based on the total number of people playing the game. In a 2 player game, each person takes 7 tiles, 3 players take 6 tiles each, and 4 players take 5 tiles each. The dominos a player draws are kept secret from their opponents.
The rest of the Bendominos are moved off to the side to form the stock.
PLAY
The player who has the highest Bendomino double begins the game by placing that tile face up in the center of the table. If nobody has a double, the player with the highest valued Bendomino goes first. This begins the Bendomino chain.
Following players take their turns by trying to place one tile on the chain that matches either end. For example, if the first tile is a 6/6, the next player must connect a Bendomino that has a six on one of its halves. The player can choose which end to place it on.
If a player is unable to add a Bendomino to the chain, they must draw one tile from the stock. If that tile can be added to the chain, the player may do so. However, a player is not required to play a tile if they do not want to.
Pictured above is a Bendomino chain in progress.
A BLOCKED GAME
Play continues left around the table as described above until the game becomes blocked. This occurs when none of the players are able to play a tile to the chain. A game can become blocked when no numbers can be matched, no matching pieces can fit, one end of the chain has become a dead end, or both ends of the chain have connected.
When the game becomes blocked, players take turns drawing one Bendomino from the stock until it is empty. Then the score is tallied.
ENDING THE ROUND
The round ends when one player runs out of Bendominos or the game becomes blocked. The player who played all of their Bendominos or has the lowest pip total from their remaining tiles wins the round.
SCORING
Whoever wins the round scores points equal to the total pips from their opponents’ tiles.
WINNING
The first player to earn 100 points or more wins the game.
- TRIPLE SNAKES - February 15, 2021