Domino is the name of a type of flat, thumb-sized rectangular block of wood or plastic with one or more ends that are either blank or have an arrangement of spots—called pips—that distinguishes it from similar ends on other pieces. Like dice and playing cards, dominoes can be used to play many different games. In the most common, a player places a domino edge to edge with another in such a way that the two pieces match in number of spots on their adjacent ends. When a domino is tipped over, it causes the other dominoes to topple, thus triggering a chain reaction of events that continues until all the dominoes are down. The resulting sequence of events is known as the domino effect, and it can be seen in action when a child stacks dominoes on end in long lines.
The popularity of dominoes has led to a wide variety of games that can be played with them. Some are blocking or scoring games; others are a variation of card games, such as solitaire or trick-taking. Some are even adaptations of games that were once popular in parts of the world where religious prohibitions against the use of cards made them unavailable.
Some of the most spectacular domino setups are the mind-blowing creations of Hevesh, a young woman who started her career as a domino artist at age 10. Her YouTube channel, Hevesh5, has more than 2 million subscribers. Hevesh creates massive, elaborate domino installations for movies, TV shows, and even for celebrity events. Her most complex designs take several nail-biting minutes to fall, and each one requires the careful positioning of hundreds of thousands of dominoes.
Hevesh’s creations are a perfect example of the domino effect in action. She starts by considering the theme or purpose of an installation, brainstorming images or words that might be appropriate. Once she’s found her inspiration, she moves on to the engineering-design process that leads to each domino arrangement. As she builds her masterpieces, she carefully places each domino so that when it falls, it will trigger the next set of dominoes to fall in a way that meets her aesthetic and logistical goals for the project.
Writing a novel can also feel a bit like building a domino set. Whether you write your manuscript off the cuff or create a detailed outline in a software program like Scrivener, your scenes will depend on the actions of the characters preceding them to raise the tension and keep the story moving forward. Creating a plot with the domino effect in mind can help you avoid scenes that are out of place or don’t have enough logical impact on what comes before them.
Likewise, the Domino effect can be helpful when analyzing your classroom’s learning challenges and developing strategies to support students with special needs. The compensation skills that students learn to compensate for a learning difference can impact their ability to develop the fundamental skill that’s needed to become successful learners. Often, these compensatory skills build up and overwhelm the student over time. When this happens, it can be difficult to break the cycle and return the student to a more productive learning path.