What is Cross dominoes?

Cross takes the spinner idea and makes it the whole game: before anything else happens, the table grows four arms.

Quick answer: Cross plays like Draw with one opening twist: the first double laid becomes the hub, and the next four tiles must be played against it, one on each side, forming a cross. From then on the layout has four open ends, quadrupling your options - and your opponent's.

How the cross forms

The hand opens like Draw, but the first double played becomes the hub, and the following four plays must all be made against it - one on each side - before any other end may be extended. A player who can't add to the cross draws from the boneyard. Once the cross is complete, normal matching resumes along all four arms.

Playing with four ends

Four open ends means four times the outs when your hand is awkward, but the same is true across the table, so hands block less often and run longer. The wider board rewards players who track all the arms at once: a suit that looks safe on one arm may be one play from exhaustion on another. It's the same skill the spinner demands in All Fives, made permanent.

Who Cross is for

Cross suits players who find the two-ended games claustrophobic and want more room to manoeuvre without new arithmetic - the matching rule never changes, only the geometry. It's also great training for spinner play in All Fives. Try Cross here, with the full rules in the rules hub.

Play Cross dominoes

Related questions

What is a spinner in dominoes?

The spinner is the first double played in a hand, laid crosswise to the line. Once both sides of the spinner along the main line are covered, its two remaining sides open as new arms, so the layout can grow in four directions. Spinners are central to All Fives and Cross.

What is the difference between Draw and Block dominoes?

The two classics differ by a single rule. In Draw, a player who can't play must take tiles from the boneyard until one fits. In Block, there's no drawing - you pass and the turn moves on. Draw is more forgiving; Block is tighter, blockier, and more about counting.

What is the hardest dominoes game?

Fives and Threes is the deepest test: every play is checked against fives and threes at once, with no boneyard rescue and a race to exactly 61. Matador is the most disorienting, replacing matching with sums to seven. Cross piles on complexity with four open ends to track.