Domino is a popular game played by people of all ages. It’s a chain reaction game where one domino knocks over another until the entire row is finished. When you’re a child, it can be a great way to build fine motor skills and learn the value of patience as you place each piece just so. But as adults, it can be frustrating when a bump or mistake causes your entire work to crumble before you’re finished. It’s called “the Domino Effect” and it can happen to us all.
The word domino has an interesting history. The origin of the game is unclear, but it’s thought that the term is derived from the Latin word domina, meaning “few.” It’s also thought that the name may be influenced by the Italian word for “flag,” since the pieces were once made with ebony blacks and ivory faces, much like a flag.
There are many ways to play Domino, and it can be a fun family activity that can also teach children the importance of planning ahead. It can also be a good way to practice math skills as kids figure out how many dominoes are needed to complete a certain layout. There are even books and videos on how to make art using dominoes, from straight lines to curved ones, grids that form pictures when they fall to stacked walls and pyramids.
In the real world, professional domino artist Hevesh has set a Guinness record for the most dominoes toppled in a single configuration. Her largest creations can take several nail-biting minutes to fall, but she’s able to create her intricate displays by following a version of an engineering-design process. She starts by considering a theme or purpose for the installation, brainstorming images and words that would fit it, then creating a diagram of how she wants the dominoes to fall.
As she adds each domino, she considers its weight and how much force it will need to knock over the next piece. She also plans out the sequence of movements and tries to minimize gaps or areas where energy isn’t being transmitted from one domino to the next. Then she tests the dominoes to ensure they will fall in the desired order.
As you can imagine, it takes a lot of time and effort to plan out an entire domino chain reaction. But even when you have all the pieces in place, it can still be heartbreaking when you accidentally bump one and cause everything to come crashing down before you’re done. That’s what happens when you don’t plan ahead. It’s a lesson we all need to remember when writing our own stories. Whether you’re a pantser who writes off the cuff or a plotter who makes detailed outlines, the key to a compelling story is understanding that the plot isn’t about action. It’s about reaction. The right sequence of scenes will build tension and keep readers turning the pages.