How to Play Mexican Train Dominoes (Full Rules)

Mexican Train is the most popular domino variant in North America, the one that turned dominoes into a serious group game again. It uses a bigger tile set, gives each player their own line (their “train”), adds a shared communal train (the Mexican Train), and uses doubles to force everyone at the table into a satisfy-or-skip scramble. A full game runs 13 rounds — one for each value from double-twelve down to double-blank. Here is how to play Mexican Train Dominoes properly.

What you need

A double-twelve domino set, which contains 91 tiles ranging from 0-0 to 12-12. A central hub (often a small plastic or wooden piece included with commercial sets, with twelve holes for the round’s starting double). A train marker per player — these mark a personal train as “open” or “public.” Paper and pen for scoring. Tile racks help but are not required.

If you only have a double-six set, you can play a smaller version of Mexican Train: 28 tiles, fewer rounds, faster game. The full rules below assume the standard double-twelve.

The setup

Shuffle all 91 tiles face down. The number of tiles drawn per player depends on player count.

• 2-4 players: 15 tiles each.
• 5-6 players: 12 tiles each.
• 7-8 players: 10 tiles each.

The rest form the boneyard. Place the central hub in the middle of the table.

The 13-round structure

A full Mexican Train game is 13 rounds. Round one starts with the 12-12 placed at the hub. Round two starts with 11-11. Round three with 10-10. All the way down to round thirteen, which starts with 0-0 (double blank).

At the start of each round, every player searches their hand for the round’s starting double. Whoever has it places it in the hub. If nobody has it, all players draw one tile from the boneyard; if still nobody has it, draw again, and so on. (Some house rules: skip the round if nobody has the double after one draw round. Others insist on continuing draws.)

The player who places the starting double goes first in that round.

Starting your personal train

On your first turn of a round, you must build a chain of tiles starting from the central hub double and extending toward your seat. This is your personal train. Each tile you add must match the previous tile’s open end, just like standard dominoes.

You can play as many tiles as you can chain together in one go on your first turn. After your first turn, you play exactly one tile per turn for the rest of the round.

Your personal train is initially closed — only you can play on it. We will get to opening it shortly.

The Mexican Train

In addition to personal trains, there is one shared train: the Mexican Train. Any player can start the Mexican Train on their turn by playing a tile that matches the round’s starting double, extending out from the central hub in a direction not occupied by a personal train.

The Mexican Train is always public. Any player can play on it during their turn at any time. It is one tile per turn on the Mexican Train, just like every other train.

There is only one Mexican Train per round. Once it is started, additional public trains do not form.

Playing on your turn

On each of your turns after the first, you can play one tile on:

• Your own personal train.
• The Mexican Train.
• Any other player’s personal train that is currently “open” (has a marker on it).

The tile must match the value at the open end of the train you play on. You choose which train to play on; you can play on a different train each turn.

What if you cannot play?

If no tile in your hand matches any available train, you draw one tile from the boneyard. If that tile plays anywhere, you play it. If not, you must place a marker on your own personal train, opening it to all other players. Your turn ends.

An open train stays open until you play a tile on it yourself — at which point the marker is removed and the train closes again. If the boneyard is empty and you cannot play, you simply mark your train open and pass.

The doubles rule (the heart of the game)

This is what makes Mexican Train Mexican Train. When any player plays a double on any train, that double must be “satisfied” by the next tile played somewhere on the board. The next player in turn order — not just the player who placed the double — must play a tile matching the double on any train, including the train where the double was placed.

If the next player cannot satisfy the double, they draw one tile. If that tile satisfies the double, they play it. If not, they place a marker on their own train (opening it) and pass.

Then the next player after that faces the same requirement: satisfy the unsatisfied double, or draw, or open their train. This continues until someone satisfies the double, at which point normal play resumes.

Until the double is satisfied, no other plays can happen. Multiple doubles played without satisfaction stack — if a player satisfies one double by playing a tile that also creates a second double, the new double must be satisfied next. Long double-chains are possible and ruthless.

Ending the round

The round ends when one of two things happens:

• A player plays their last tile.
• The game becomes blocked (no one can play and the boneyard is empty).

When the round ends, each player counts the pips on their remaining tiles. Those pip counts are added to their running score. The player who went out scores zero for the round.

Scoring across the game

Scores accumulate across all 13 rounds. The player with the lowest total score after 13 rounds wins. Yes — lowest score wins, because the score is what you held when you couldn’t get rid of it.

This is the opposite of standard block-dominoes scoring, where the winner of each round scores the opponents’ pips. Mexican Train scores your own leftover pips against you.

Strategy basics

Play heavy tiles early. Your worst-case outcome is being caught with a 12-12 in your hand at the end of a round — 24 pips in a single tile. Get rid of the heavy doubles fast, even if it means building a less-efficient train.

Use the Mexican Train. The Mexican Train is the safety valve when your own train is going the wrong direction. If your train ends in a 3 and you have no 3s, the Mexican Train probably offers a different matching number you can play on.

Don’t open your train unnecessarily. Once your train is marked open, every other player can dump tiles on it. Particularly bad: opening your train when you still have a chance of going out, because every play on your train counts against your own future plays.

Watch the double-double traps. Two doubles in a row can effectively skip the table — every player either satisfies them or marks their train. You want to be the player who satisfies the second double, not the one who has to draw.

Bank tiles you can’t yet play. If you draw a tile that doesn’t match any open end, sometimes the right move is to keep it (mark your train open and accept the cost) rather than try to chain-build something fragile. Particularly with high-value doubles.

Common house rules

Some tables play “double-twelve to first double” — meaning round one is 12-12, but subsequent rounds restart from 12-12 each time. This is faster but loses the structure of the 13-round arc.

Some tables play “must satisfy your own double” — the player who placed a double has to satisfy it themselves before the requirement passes to the next player. This is a more punishing variant that rewards careful double-placement.

Some tables score in groups of five (round pips to the nearest 5) for faster bookkeeping. Some use 0 pips for blank tiles regardless of count (since the 12-0 still has 12 pips).

Where Mexican Train came from

The game’s exact origin is murky. The earliest documented English-language rule sets appeared in the 1990s, and the variant became popular through commercial domino set publishers like Puremco and AAA-rated. The “Mexican Train” name probably comes from the public train acting as a wild card, similar to how the queen of spades or Mexican wild rules appear in other card games. The double-twelve set the game requires was uncommon before Mexican Train; commercial sales of the larger sets are essentially tied to the variant’s spread.

If you want a quick game between rounds

Mexican Train games can run two hours or more for 13 full rounds. Between rounds, the Chrome Dino game is a 30-second palate cleanser. For the base rules of standard dominoes from which Mexican Train descends, our how to play Dominoes guide covers the simpler block game.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean to “satisfy a double” in Mexican Train?

When a double is played, the next tile placed on any train must match that double’s value. Until someone plays a matching tile, all other plays are blocked. Players who cannot satisfy must draw, and if that fails, open their own train.

How many tiles do you start with in Mexican Train?

For 2 to 4 players, 15 tiles each. For 5 to 6 players, 12 tiles each. For 7 to 8 players, 10 tiles each. The remaining tiles form the boneyard for drawing during play.

Can someone else play on my personal train?

Only if your train is marked open. Your train opens when you draw without being able to play, or when you choose to open it as part of forced passing. Once open, any player can add tiles to your train on their turn. Your train closes again when you play on it yourself.

What happens if I cannot start my train on my first turn?

You draw from the boneyard once. If the drawn tile lets you start your train, you play. If not, you place an open marker on your starting point (the central hub side reserved for you) and your turn ends.

How is the winner decided?

After all 13 rounds, each player totals their accumulated pip count from all rounds. The player with the lowest total wins. Unlike standard dominoes, the score is the pips you got stuck with — lower is better.

The bottom line

Mexican Train is the social domino variant. The personal-train mechanic gives every player a stake in their own line, the Mexican Train provides a safety valve, and the doubles rule makes every double a small group event. A full 13-round game is a long evening, but the rhythm settles in fast. Get a double-twelve set, find three to seven other people, and play the variant that turned dominoes from a quiet pastime into a tournament game.