The Mexican Train is a domino game, popular mainly in the USA. The aim is to accumulate as few points as possible in 13 games - the player with the lowest total score wins.
A double domino set of 12 is used. Contains all possible pairs of numbers from 0 (white) to 12, for a total of 91 pieces. Also, some markers are needed. Traditionally, coins were used: a cent for each player and 5 or 10 cents for the "Mexican trains".
Steps
Step 1. All 91 tiles are turned over and scattered around the table to shuffle
Step 2. Each player takes 12 tiles and places them on their side so that the faces are visible to the owner but not to the other players
The remaining tiles are left face down on the court (“boneyard”).
Up to 6 players take 12 tiles each, 7 to 8 take 10, and 9 or 10 players take 8 for one
Step 3. Each player checks for double-12
(The second game will be started from the double-11 and so on to climb up to the double-0 in the thirteenth)
- The player who has the double-12 (the train station) starts the first round by placing it in the center of the table.
- If no one has the double, the players flip one tile at a time, clockwise, from the field until the double-12 (the station) is found.
Step 4. Everyone organizes their tiles
It can take a while, depending on how many tiles each one had to take. Each player will devise their own system to keep all their tiles straight, but in essence you want to:
- Build the longest train possible with the tiles in your hand. This is done in front of you with the tiles on the side so that your opponents don't see which ones you have.
- Keep all your starting blocks (train engines) separate (as you will only use them to start your train or a Mexican train).
- Keep your “loose” pieces (the ones that don't fit on your personal train) close at hand to add to a Mexican train if and where possible.
- Put any doubles in your personal train as soon as possible. For example if you had this train: 12-12, 12-5, 5-0, 0-1, 1-3 and then you notice that you also have a double-1 … Place this double-1 between the tiles 0-1 and 1 -3 (doubles are special during the game).
Step 5. Continuing clockwise around the table, each player now begins to compose their own train, consisting of a single row of tiles starting from the double (the station) in the center and extending towards the player (this way it is easier for everyone, including you, to remember what your train is)
The ends of the adjacent dominoes must match in number and the end facing the center of the first tile must correspond to the central one (in the first, therefore, a 12 is needed). A single train might look like this: 12-12, 12-5, 5-0, 0-1, etc. As it grows, the train will turn and change direction; make sure you leave room for your neighbors for their trains as well.
- Any player unable to start his train - not having a domino (motor) that corresponds to the central double - draws from the field, hoping to draw a 12 on one end, in which case they will play it normally, and it will be the next player's turn. Any player without a train must continue to draw until he draws a 12 (engine) or can place a tile on a Mexican train initiated by an opponent.
- Neither player can play on another's train, nor start a "Mexican train" on their first turn. The first domino you play after the double initial (station) is the your personal train.
Step 6. Each player continues his turn
Any player with a 12 (motor) domino can pair it with the double-12 (station) in the center at each of their turns, to start a Mexican train. Mark the 12 half of this starting Mexican train with a marker (dime) to remind others that they too can play on this new Mexican train during their turn.
- If a player cannot place a tile on his train or play one on a Mexican train or on an opponent's train, he must draw. If he cannot play the drawn tile either, he declares it aloud and moves on to the next player. If he can play it, he does it and then passes the turn.
- If he has not been able to play the domino he has drawn on his train, he must mark the first piece of his train (the engine) with a marker; this lets everyone know that his train can now be used (just like a Mexican train). A third domino extends, which again could go anywhere - on the first or second double you played or somewhere else, and it could be a third double - and so on.
- Your turn ends after you have played a non-double domino or, being unable to do so, you pass and put a coin on your train. The only exception to this is if your very last piece is a double, in that case you can play it (end the game). In that case, the game ends immediately and the penalty points are counted. You are the winner of this round, as you will have 0 points.
- If a double is played, and the player leaves the train with a double at the end, then after the end of that player's turn the next domino must be played on that double.
- The obligation to complete the double falls first on the player following the person who played the double. If he is able to complete double, he must do so - even if he were on a personal train. If he cannot complete the double from his hand, he draws a tile and if not even this is enough to complete it, he passes the turn and puts a penny on his train; the obligation to complete the double then passes to the next player. If a player leaves several doubles incomplete at the end of a round, each of the exposed doubles must be completed by the following players in the order in which they were played.
Step 7. The game ends when one of the players has no more tiles, or when nothing else can be played
Step 8. Each player scores the numbers on his remaining tiles as penalty points (this way the player who no longer has any will have no penalty points for that game)
Step 9. A full session would consist of 13 games, the first starting with 12-12, then 11-11, 10-10 and so on up to 0-0
Advice
- Some play the tiles one at a time from the start, rather than having each player play as many tiles as possible on their train in the first round.
- Some do not allow more than one double to be played in the same turn. In this version there can never be more than one incomplete double on the table.
- Some play putting a mark on their train if it is a turn that you are not allowed to play on your train because you had a double to complete.
- Some play to build their own train in order to "block" the train of the opponents.
- Some score points positively instead of penalties. The players who run out of tiles, or the player with the fewest points in the event of a block, scores the total points on the remaining tiles in the hands of the other players. In the event of a block with tied winners, the winners share the points of the other players.
