Dominoes as a game has been around for hundreds of years. Lately, its certainly been overshadowed by the variety of genres and titles of video games that are available, but, like games such as checkers and chess, dominoes are still enjoyed by many people as a fun pastime. Its that audienceand, in the hope of publisher/developer TikGames, expanding beyond that to others it might interestthat is the main target of the upcoming Domino Master on Xbox Live Arcade.
The title certainly fits in TikGamess catalog, In fact, Domino Master was initially released by the company for PC players. But TikGames understands that XBLA could very well bring it to a new crowd of players who might be willing to spend $5 or $10 to add the game to their hard drives. This is the same developer behind Texas Holdem Poker on XBLA, as well as the forthcoming XBLA releases, Minesweeper Flags (which it also will publish) and Interpol. The latter title is slated to be released under the Sierra bannerthough the recent merger that brings the label under the Activision Blizzard umbrella means that it might be released by the new company or instead could be sold off for publishing by another company.
Domino Master contains five variations of dominoes with full tutorials of each mode. Mitzi McGilvray, TikGamess VP of casual games, told me that the company has tested its tutorials with young kids to see if they can adequately pick up on the gameplay after using the tutorials, and it appears that Domino Master is passing the test. It also helps that, during a regular game, Domino Master gives you other help, such as showing your what pieces are usable for that turn, as well as any potential moves you can make.
The five modes are Standard, where the players need to remove their dominoes from the board until one person has cleared out their tile tray; All 5s, which has players scoring by having the end dominoes on the board divisible by 5; All 3s, which similarly gives scores for making a move to have the end dominoes total a multiple of 3; Bergen, which is a variation requiring players to clear dominoes and gives points when the end tiles have a number match; and Mexican Train, the interesting mode that has you attempting to create a run of tiles by matching the end numbers one after the other until the tile tray is cleared. The latter mode is perhaps the most fun, due to its dynamic gameplay and its fit as a good multiplayer contest.
If you find that the AI players are too easy to beat, there are three difficulty settings (Easy, Master and Guru) that really crank up the challenge. Additionally, each mode has a detail settings screen, which enables you to mess with the rules that youre goverened under. (In multiplayer, all players must confirm the use of rule changes by all agreeing to any setting change.)
Speaking of multiplayer, these adversarial battles against others support gameplay for up to four players. Of course, the most exciting aspect is that, taking on humans means theres little to no predictabiliity in their moves, which opens up the gameplay even more.
Domino Master can also be reskinned through the addition of other tilesets. The game will ship with a few, but TikGames promises that others will be added for download, so that you can tailor the boards look to your likingthough it doesnt force the decision on your opponents desires or whims.
The achievement list is also likely to be challenging, as some require a fair amount of gameplay to take them down. If youre a dominos fanor willing to try and become oneyou wont mind playing to try and pull out the toughest ones. The full list is below, so you can plan ahead.
Mexican Train is an exciting, unique gameplay mode..
I played Domino Master for a while and was hit by how easy it was to learn how to make moves under each rules set, as well as what differences there are in the gameplay modes. For me, it might not take the place of such heavily anticipated releases as Gears of War 2, Rock Band 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed when each of those hit store shelves. However, it seems to make a great, entertaining challenge despite its casual game labeling.
Achievements
First WinWin a game in single player. (10 points)
Beat the MastersWin 10 games against Master level AI(s). (15 points)
Guru BeaterWin 40 games against Guru AI(s). (20 points)
DoublesWin at least 1 round with at least 1 of each double placed last. (15 points)
Super BlockerWin 30 blocked rounds. (10 points)
Perfect GameWin a game without drawing. (20 points)
All 5s WinnerWin 50 All 5s games. (10 points)
All 3s WinnerWin 30 All 3s games. (10 points)
Real WinWin a multiplayer game. (10 points)
Domino ExplorerWin a game in all game modes at least once in both Single Player and Multiplayer modes. (15 points)
Mega PlayerWin 5 rounds in a row. (25 points)
All 3s GuruGet 36 points 3 times (when playing All 3s game with double 9 domino set). (40 points)
