How to score Dominoes
The classic way to score dominoes is All Fives, also called Muggins. After every play, add up the open ends of the layout: when they make a multiple of 5, you score that number. Going out pays you the pips left in everyone else’s hand, rounded to the nearest 5. First to 250 wins, or 200 with three or four players.
- 2 to 4 players
- A double-six set
- First to 250, or 200
- Only multiples of 5 score
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This is the real Scorepad, live: Dev’s two scoring plays and the pips he caught in hand 5, typed as one sum. Tap any hand to change it.
Dominoes
The classic scoring dominoes game: whenever the open ends of the layout add up to a multiple of 5 you score that total, and going out earns you the pips left in your opponents' hands, first to the target wins.
Dominoes on BoardGameGeek.
How to play Dominoes, in brief
In All Fives, you match tiles end to end and score whenever the open ends of the layout (the tiles on the table) add up to a multiple of 5.
- Draw your tilesMix a double-six set face down. Each player draws 5 to 9 tiles, fewer with more players; the rest is the boneyard.
- Match an open endThe first player sets down any tile. Then take turns adding a tile that matches a free end: a 4 against a 4. Doubles go crosswise, and the first one, the spinner, opens all four sides.
- Draw if you can’t playDraw from the boneyard until a tile fits. If it runs out, pass.
- Go outThe hand ends when someone plays their last tile or nobody can play. New hands follow until someone reaches 250, or 200 with three or four players, ending the game at once.
Make the ends a multiple of 5.
In All Fives you score during the hand, not just at the end of it. Every time you play a tile, the table checks the open ends of the layout. Then whoever goes out collects for what the others are still holding.
What scores, and when
| When | Points |
|---|---|
| The open ends add up to 5, 10, 15 or moreAny multiple of 5, scored at once by whoever just played | The total |
| A double at an open endIt counts both halves: the 5-5 is 10, the 6-6 is 12 | All its pips |
| Ends that add up to anything elseA 6 and a 3 make 9, which scores nothing | 0 |
| Going outThe pips left in every other hand, each hand rounded to the nearest 5 | Their pips |
| A blocked gameThe lowest hand scores the others’ pips, rounded the same way. A tie for lowest scores nothing, except with three players, where the two tied split the third’s pips | Their pips |
- Check the ends after every playAdd the pips showing on the open ends of the layout. If the total is a multiple of 5, the player who just played scores it on the spot.
- Count a double wholeA double at an end counts both halves. With no spinner (Muggins) two ends count, so one play scores 20 at most. In All Fives the first double is a spinner, open on all four sides, and one play can score up to 35.
- Collect for going outPlay your last tile and you score the pips left in each opponent’s hand, each hand rounded to the nearest 5: 7 pips count 5, 8 count 10. If nobody can play, the lowest hand collects instead.
- Stop at the targetPlay to 250 with two players and 200 with three or four. The game ends the moment someone gets there, even in the middle of a hand.
Hand 5: Dev goes out and takes the lead.
Three players, five tiles each, no spinner. Going in, Mara has 110, Dev 95 and You 70. Dev scores twice, then plays his last tile while Mara is still holding 8 pips and You 13. This is hand 5 on the Scorepad above.
| Player | Scoring plays, then the pips caught | Hand |
|---|---|---|
| You | One scoring play: ends of 10 · 13 pips leftEnds of 10 | 10 |
| Mara | Ends of 5, then her 4-4 on one end with the 6-6 on the other (8 and 12) · 8 pips left5 + 20 | 25 |
| Dev | Ends of 10, then 15 · out: Mara’s 8 pips round to 10, You’s 13 to 15Two plays, then the pips: 10 + 15 + 10 + 15 | 50 |
You call the fives. Tabletales keeps the count.
Tabletales is a scorepad and scrapbook for game night. In dominoes you spot each multiple of 5 and round the leftover pips at the table. After each hand, type what each player scored: Tabletales adds up the totals, lights up the one that reaches the target and saves the game with the night.
- A row for each handLeave the game on Highest wins and switch to By hand. Everything a player scored in the hand goes in their one cell.
- Type it the way you scored itType a player’s points for the hand, or type them the way you scored them (two plays and the pips you caught: 10 + 15 + 10 + 15) and Tabletales adds it up. The total should always end in 0 or 5.
- Play to 250, or 200Set Play to a score and the total that gets there lights up, so the table knows to stop. Playing as partners? Pick Teams and type each side’s points under one partner.
- And the night is keptSave it with who played and a photo of the table. Each game gets a history: how often you play it, who with, and who holds the high score.
- Everyone who was there
- Photos from the table
- Dominoes, with its scores
Common Dominoes scoring mistakes
- Scoring ends that are not a multiple of 5A 6 and a 3 make 9, which scores nothing in All Fives. Only 5, 10, 15 and up count.
- Counting half a doubleA double at an open end counts all its pips, so the 5-5 adds 10 to the ends, not 5.
- Forgetting to round the pipsThe pips in each hand you catch go to the nearest 5: 13 pips score 15 and 7 pips score 5.
- Not calling your scoreUnder the muggins rule, an opponent who catches a score you missed can cancel it, and some tables let them take it.
Dominoes scoring, answered
- How do you keep score in dominoes?
- In All Fives, add the open ends after every play and score the total whenever it is a multiple of 5. Whoever goes out also scores the pips left in the other hands, rounded to the nearest 5.
- Do doubles count double in dominoes?
- A double at an open end counts both of its halves, so the 5-5 adds 10 to the ends and the 6-6 adds 12. It is not doubled again on top of that.
- What score do you play to in dominoes?
- Pagat gives 250 for two players, 200 for three or four, and 250 for partners. Older American rules play to 200 for two and 150 for more, so agree on it before the first hand.
Dominoes score sheet
Print one for the table: four players and twenty hands, with the hand and a running total for each, and the scoring at the bottom.
Score another game
Tables differ: Pagat’s All Fives rounds the pips caught as one total rather than hand by hand (Wikipedia rounds each hand), and some play to 150 or 200, let every double spin (Five Up), subtract their own leftover pips instead of paying the winner, or peg the score in fives on a cribbage board to 61. Fives and Threes, a British cousin, scores multiples of 3 as well. Rules checked on 19 October 2026 against Pagat’s All Fives, Pagat’s Muggins and Wikipedia.
Keep score tonight. Keep the night for good.
Tabletales adds up every hand, then saves the whole night: the games, the scores, the photos and who was there.
