Domino, the cousin of playing cards and one of the world’s oldest tools for game play, has been used in many ways. From professional domino competitions to simply setting up a line of dominoes and flicking the first to see it all fall, there is no shortage of ways that this simple, versatile game can be enjoyed.

A domino is a rectangular tile that has a face with black or white spots (known as pips) and a back. Each domino can belong to two suits, namely the suit of its numbered side and the suit of blank sides, or zeros. The pips are uniformly molded or drilled, and painted either black or white. The most common domino sets sold commercially are double six and double nine, with 28 tiles and 55 tiles respectively. There are, however, larger domino sets available for players who enjoy long domino games.

The word “domino” may have come from the Latin dominus, meaning master of the house, although the name could also be derived from the Arabic dom-n’ (), or more specifically from the Persian dom-n’m, which literally means, “house of dominoes.” Regardless of origin, the term has since become synonymous with the crooked set of little wooden blocks that form an endless, snake-like row.

In some games, each domino has a number that indicates how it can be matched to other dominoes; for example, a triple-six domino can only be matched with another triple-six. In addition, each domino is marked with a color that identifies its suit. A domino with a blue suit is associated with the suit of spades, while a purple-suite domino belongs to the suit of hearts.

When a domino is played to a double, the two matching ends of the tiles must touch fully and be placed in a perpendicular direction. This ensures that energy is transferred from the domino to the next one. This energy is called potential energy, which can only be converted to kinetic energy when it is applied.

Hevesh has built her mind-blowing domino creations using a version of the engineering-design process. She starts with a theme or purpose and brainstorms images or words that might be associated with it. Then, she considers the forces that will affect how her installation is built. She also studies the history of dominoes to determine if there are any limitations on the kinds of shapes she can create with them.