Ferret Express

Setup

• Players: four: you and three bots, each playing for yourself.
• Dominoes: a double-nine set of 55. Ten each, and the rest are the boneyard.
• Rounds: one for each double, from the double 9 down. Our Quick game plays five rounds and the Full game ten.
• The hub: the holder of the round’s double sets it down in the middle. If nobody holds it, the dominoes are dealt again.

How to play

1. 1Play a domino. Match the open end of your own train, the Express, or another player’s train that has a marker on it.
2. 2Stuck? Draw. Draw one domino from the boneyard. If it fits, play it. If it does not, pass.
3. 3Passing puts a marker on. The marker opens your train to everybody until you next play on it.
4. 4Doubles must be covered. Play a double and you play again at once to cover it. If you cannot, the next players must cover it before anything else.
5. 5Go out. The first player to play their last domino ends the round.
6. 6Pay for your pips. Everyone else scores the pips on the dominoes they still hold.

Winning

After the last round, the lowest total wins. Each round, everyone but the player who went out scores the pips left in their hand.

Scoring

Our Classic rules: the lowest total after the last round wins. Some tables score a bonus for going out or play to a target score; those are house rules.

Key terms

Hub:

The double in the middle that every train starts from.

Train:

A line of dominoes matched end to end, growing out of the hub.

The Express:

The one shared train that any player may play on.

Marker:

Put on your train when you pass. It opens your train to everybody.

Cover:

To play a domino on a double so the train carries on.

Boneyard:

The dominoes nobody was dealt, drawn from when you cannot play.