Mexican Train is a relaxed, sociable dominoes game for 2–8 players using a Double-12 set. Here are the standard rules in five minutes. Plenty of families add their own house rules, and that’s part of the fun.
What you need
- A Double-12 set (91 tiles)
- A train hub or open space in the middle of the table
- One train marker per player, plus one for the shared “Mexican Train”
- A score sheet
Set up
- Place the double-12 in the center (or in the hub). Each round starts with the next double down: 12, 11, 10… down to 0, for 13 rounds in total.
- Shuffle the remaining tiles face down. Each player draws tiles: 2–4 players take 15 each, 5–6 players take 12, 7–8 players take 10. The rest are the “boneyard”.
- Each player arranges their tiles on a rack so nobody else can see them.
Taking turns
- On your turn, play one tile that matches an open end: start or extend your own train (the line leading towards you), the shared Mexican Train, or any other player’s train that is marked open.
- If you can’t play, draw one tile from the boneyard. If it plays, play it. If not, put your marker on your train to show it’s open. Other players may now play on it until you play on it again and remove the marker.
- Doubles: when you play a double, lay it sideways and play again. The next tile played anywhere must cover that double. If nobody can, the player who can’t draws and marks their train open.
Ending a round and scoring
A round ends when someone plays their last tile, or when the boneyard is empty and nobody can play. Everyone else adds up the pips on their remaining tiles (the double-0 counts as 50 in many house rules). After 13 rounds, the lowest total wins.
Popular house rules
- Say “uno” or tap the table when you’re down to one tile.
- The Mexican Train can only be started once your own train has a tile.
- Play several tiles in a row on your first turn if you can.