Mexican Train
The object of the game is for a player to play all the tiles from his or her hand onto one or more chains, or trains, emanating from a central hub or "station".
[2] In addition to dominoes, the game also uses: Many sets of dominoes include a station and special train-shaped tokens for markers, and packaged games with a central "station" and custom tokens are available, along with pads to help keep score.
At the start of each round, the dominoes are placed face-side down, shuffled, and each player draws an equal number to form their hands.
For example, for a 3-player game using the double-twelve set of 91 dominoes, each player draws 15 tiles for their hand, under the 1994 Galt rules.
The highest double tile is set aside before shuffling the tiles and placed to "open the station", starting the game; e.g., with a standard double-twelve set the double twelve is separated before shuffling and placed in the center of the station hub.
[7] Alternatively, in the 1994 rules written by David Galt, the player who is designated to take the first turn places their highest double in the station to start the game.
[5] Other rule variants suggest alternative methods to select the first player: The first player then starts a private train, sometimes known as a personal train, by placing a tile that legally starts from the station by matching pip values to the engine in the station hub, in a direction leading towards their seat.
A train can be as long as the players can make it; it ends only when all dominoes that could match its endpoint have already been played.
[5][4][18] To designate when a train is private, the marker may either be removed altogether[5][4][16] or moved to the station hub,[14] depending on the rules.
If a player is deemed to have made a strategic error the highest score of that round is added to theirs.
It is metaphorically on a siding, physically represented by disconnecting it from the station hub, in a place convenient to all players.
Responsibility to cover the double continues to pass repeatedly in this manner (Players D, E, F, etc.)
[4][5][6] Refer to the § Double variations section in this article for a more specific description of the differences.
[4] One variation suggests that as a courtesy, a player holding only one domino should tap the table to indicate the potential end of the round in the next turn, giving the other players a chance to lower their score by playing their highest-valued domino.
Once everyone has finished this initial private train building phase, play reverts to turns, using the rules listed above.
[5] This speeds up the game, but eliminates some of the strategies resulting from the requirement to cover doubles.
Similar to the fast game variation listed above, instead of simultaneously, each person takes turns playing as many dominoes on their train as possible.
When a player who has passed finally starts their train, they may play as many dominoes as they can string together.
[1]: 3 Chinese laborers may have brought Pai gow to Latin America after they began working in sugar fields in the mid to late 1800s.
Longana is a four-player game using a double-nine set; like Mexican Train it also calls for a double domino to start in the center of a cruciform layout and uses the same public / private switching system upon passing a turn; the primary differences in Longana are a double may be played on any chain, there is no common, always-public train, and the winner of each round receives a score equal to the sum of all the remaining dominoes in the other players' hands.
[20] The Cuban game is depicted in the film Buena Vista Social Club.
[22] Roy and Katie Parsons developed and copyrighted rules for Train in 1994,[23] and sold production rights to Puremco, who marketed the game as Mexican Train,[24] packaging a double twelve domino set with rules for eight games.
[26] A subsequent trademark application for just "Mexican Train" was filed in 2017 and also was dismissed and abandoned.
