How to play Mexican Train dominoes

Mexican Train 101, taught the way the game is actually learned: by playing a tiny round of it. In about five minutes of tapping you will set the engine, start two trains, get stuck once on purpose, and count your first score. No signup, no experience, nothing to install.

Every step asks you to do one small thing and answers you right away. Miss a question and the lesson explains and lets you try again.

The whole game on one screen

For reference after the lesson: Mexican Train is a domino game for 2 to 8 players, played with a double-12 set of 91 dominoes. A game is 13 rounds. Each round starts with a double in the center, the engine, beginning with the double-12 and counting down one per round to the double blank. With a double-12 set, up to 4 players draw 15 dominoes each, 5 to 6 players draw 12, and 7 to 8 players draw 10; the rest form the boneyard.

TrainsEach player builds a train out from the engine by matching the number on the open end. One extra shared train, the Mexican train, is open to everyone once started and never closes.
DoublesA double is played across the train, and both of its open ends must be played before the train can grow past it.
StuckCannot play? Draw one from the boneyard. If it does not play either, your marker goes on your train: your train is open, anyone may play on it, until you play on it yourself and take the marker back.
Round endsWhen one player plays their last domino, or the boneyard is empty and nobody can play anywhere.
ScoringThe pips left in your hand are points against you. The double blank counts 0. After 13 rounds, the lowest total wins. Some tables charge 50 for a leftover double blank; that is a house rule, and the keeper on this site carries it as a setting.

What you need at a real table

A double-12 domino set, a marker for each player (a coin works), and a way to keep score. The best Mexican Train domino sets guide compares double-9, double-12, and double-15 sets, cases, and the trains and hubs worth having. For the score, the free score keeper on this site runs the totals on any phone, and the full rules page is the reference to settle table arguments.

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About this lesson

This lesson is published by Oasis Investing LLC as part of Parlor and Play. It teaches standard Mexican Train play in our own words, as commonly published. Mexican Train is a folk game with many local variations, so your table's house rules are the final word at your table; where a common variation exists, like the 50 point double blank, we name it as a variation. The demo round uses a five tile hand so a whole round fits on one screen; real starting hands are larger and are listed above. Corrections are welcome at hello@oasisinvestingllc.com.