Mexican Train Dominoes
Mexican Train is a domino game for 2–8 players. Each round places one double in the hub — the engine — and players build trains away from it. The goal is the lowest cumulative score after every engine from the highest double down to 0|0 has been played.
This edition is the traditional public-domain game. It does not use opening-build, knocking, a double that ends the round unsatisfied except by going out, a restriction on who may start the Mexican Train, partnerships, or sets larger than double-twelve.
Equipment
Two lobby options:
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Tile set. Double-twelve (91 tiles, 13 rounds, default) or double-nine (55 tiles, 10 rounds).
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Double-blank. A 0|0 left in a hand scores 50 (default) or 0.
Tiles outside the chosen set are set aside and never dealt.
Setup (each round)
2.
Deal the hand for the number of players. The boneyard is whatever remains.
Double-twelve (from 91 tiles):
Double-nine (from 55 tiles):
3.
The round's engine double goes in the hub: round 1 is the highest double (12|12 or 9|9), then one lower each round, down to 0|0.
4.
If nobody was dealt the engine, players draw one tile at a time from the boneyard, starting at seat 1 every round, until someone draws it. Drawn tiles stay in the hand. If that search empties the boneyard, the engine is still placed and the round is played with nothing left to draw.
5.
Placing the engine spends that player's turn. Play continues clockwise, to their left.
Trains
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Your train starts closed. Only you may play on it, unless it is marked with a lantern.
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The Mexican Train is always open. It has no lantern. Any player may start it at any time by matching the engine.
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The first tile of any train must match the engine. Each later tile must match the open pip at the end of that train.
A turn
Play one matching tile on your own train, the Mexican Train, or an opponent's train that has a lantern.
If nothing in your hand matches a train you may use:
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Draw one tile when the boneyard has any. If that tile can be played, you must play it immediately. If it cannot, your turn ends and a lantern is placed on your train.
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When the boneyard is empty, pass and place a lantern.
You cannot draw while you already have a legal play. A lantern comes off only when you next play a tile on your own train. Playing on the Mexican Train, or on someone else's train, leaves your lantern where it is.
Doubles
The player who plays a double — including one just drawn — must satisfy it immediately, on the same turn, with one extra tile. That tile has to match the double and cannot itself be a double, so only one double is ever waiting.
If you cannot satisfy it, draw one tile when the boneyard has any. If that tile satisfies the double, you must play it there. Otherwise place your lantern and pass. The double stays unsatisfied.
While a double is unsatisfied, every player's only legal play is to satisfy it, even on a train that would otherwise be closed.
The engine in the hub is never an unsatisfied double. Going out on a double ends the round at once; that double does not have to be satisfied.
Ending a round
A round ends when:
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A player plays their last tile (goes out), or
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The boneyard is empty and every player passes in one full circuit.
Scoring
Each player left holding tiles scores their pips. The player who went out scores 0. On a block, everyone scores. The double-blank scores the lobby value (50 or 0) instead of its face, which is blank.
Winning the match
After the last engine (0|0), the lowest cumulative score wins. A tie shares the win.
The board
Trains are stacked rows around the hub, so a phone can keep each train large enough to tap. A lantern is the word "Lantern" as well as a gold lamp. A waiting double is the line "Satisfy the double: Ns only". Your own tiles stay private; other players see how many you hold, not which tiles.