Gameplay is a variation of the snake genre, in which players compete by surrounding each other with lines of dominos.

[4] Koble stated that despite being credited as the programmer on Dominos, Rains was "the brains behind the game" and had suggested the concept, drew the graphics and created the AI for the computer controlled opponent.

[3] Following the release of Blockade by Gremlin Industries, Atari wanted to make their own version of the game.

[4] Among the additions made to the game, Koble included a computer controlled opponent, which meant that a single-player mode was possible.

He recalled that the game was created when Atari was still a "young company and just trying to survive as they made the transition into using microprocessors.