Mexican Train Rules: How to Play

What you need

• A double-12 domino set: 91 tiles, every pair of numbers from 0 to 12 exactly once. Numbered or coloured spots make it easier to read.
• A hub (optional): a centre piece with a slot for the engine double and a groove for each train.
• Markers: one small train or coin per player, plus one for the Mexican Train.
• Paper and pencil, or our printable score sheet.

The goal

Get rid of your tiles. When a round ends, the spots on the tiles still in your hand count against you. After all 13 rounds, the player with the lowest total wins.

Setting up a round

Round 1 uses the 12-12 as the engine. Put it in the middle. Round 2 uses the 11-11, round 3 the 10-10, and so on down to the 0-0 in round 13.

Shuffle the other tiles face down and let everyone take their tiles. Stand them on edge so only you can see them. Play goes clockwise. Pagat.com describes the original way: the engine double stays in the set, and whoever draws it puts it out and starts. Many families simply set it aside before shuffling, as our online game does, and let a different player start each round.

How many dominoes each

Double-12 set (91 tiles) with the engine double set aside: 90 tiles to share out.

Other set sizes and a players-to-tiles calculator: how many dominoes each in Mexican Train.

Your turn: where you may play

On your turn you play one tile. The end you join must have the same number of spots as the open end it touches. You may play:

1. On your own train. It runs from the engine toward you. Only you may play on it, unless it has a marker.
2. On the Mexican Train, the shared train (see below).
3. On another player's train that has a marker.

The Mexican Train

The Mexican Train is one extra train that belongs to everybody. Like every train it starts from the engine, so its first tile needs the engine's number. After that, any player may add to it on any turn. It is the natural place for a tile that does not fit your own train.

Can’t play? Draw, then pass

If none of your tiles fits anywhere you may play, draw one tile from the boneyard.

• If it fits, you must play it right away.
• If it does not fit, you pass and put your marker on your train.
• If the boneyard is empty, you simply pass and put out your marker.

You may not draw while you hold a tile that fits.

Markers (open trains)

A marker on your train means it is open: every player may now play on it. That helps them get rid of tiles, so you want it gone. The marker comes off as soon as you play a tile on your own train. Other players adding to it does not remove it.

Doubles

A double (both ends the same, like 9-9) is placed across the train. The rules for doubles are the part most people get wrong:

1. Play again. When you play a double, you play one more tile, anywhere you are allowed to. If that is a double too, play another.
2. Cover it. A double left uncovered at the end of your turn must be covered (“satisfied”) by the next player, with a tile that matches it, before anyone plays anywhere else. This applies even if it is on a train they normally can’t use.
3. Can’t cover it? Draw one tile. If it covers the double, play it. If not, pass and put out your marker. The next player must try to cover it.
4. Two uncovered doubles are covered in the order they were played.
5. A double may be your last tile: play it and the round ends at once.

The double rule step by step, with real tiles: the Mexican Train double rule.

Ending a round and scoring

The round ends the moment someone plays their last tile. It also ends if nobody can play and the boneyard is empty (a blocked round). Everyone counts the spots on the tiles left in hand; that number is added to their score. Going out scores 0.

After round 13 (the 0-0 engine) the lowest total wins. A tie is shared.

Mexican Train for 2 players

The rules don't change: each player takes 15 tiles, and there are three trains (yours, your opponent's and the Mexican Train). With 60 tiles in the boneyard you will draw more often, so markers come and go quickly. It is a good way to learn before a family game. A real two-player deal laid out: Mexican Train rules for 2 players.

House rules and variations

Mexican Train is a family game and almost every table has its own rules. Agree on these before you start:

• First turn. In the classic opening (pagat.com), on your very first turn you may lay as many tiles as you can in a line on your own train, and nobody may start the Mexican Train until their second turn. Our online game uses the simpler opening listed on pagat.com: one tile at a time from the start.
• Double blank worth 50. Common at home; standard rules count it as 0.
• Marker rules. Some remove a marker when anyone plays on that train, or when the owner plays anywhere.
• Doubles. Some don't require doubles to be covered, or allow only one double per turn.
• Positive scoring. Some give the player who goes out the points left in everyone else's hand.