How to keep score in Chicken Foot

What each round scores

When a round ends, everyone turns up the dominoes still in their hand and adds up the pips, the dots on both halves.

You played your last domino

0

Dominoes left in your hand

The total of their pips

A blank half

0

The double blank

50 (25 in some versions)

Nobody can play and the boneyard is empty

Everyone scores the pips in their hand

How many dominoes to draw

How many dominoes each player takes depends on the set and how many play. These are the numbers in the game's official rules, and from Puremco, a domino maker, for double-15 sets.

Double-9 set (55 dominoes)

2 players take 20 each, 3 take 14, 4 take 11, 5 take 9 and 6 take 7.

Double-12 set (91 dominoes)

4 players take 18, 5 take 14, 6 take 12, 7 take 10 and 8 take 9.

Double-15 set (136 dominoes)

6 players take 18, 7 take 15, 8 take 14, 9 take 12, 10 or 11 take 10, and 12 take 9.

Double-6 set (28 dominoes)

For 2 or 3 players, 5 each.

Not every table deals that many. Some start with fewer, such as 12, 11 and 10 from a double-9 set for two, three and four players, or 7 each. Fewer dominoes make shorter rounds and lower scores, so agree before the first round.

Rounds, and the chicken foot

Each round starts from a double in the middle of the table, the highest first: double 9 in round 1, double 8 in round 2, and so on down to the double blank. That's 10 rounds with a double-9 set, 13 with double 12 and 16 with double 15.

The first plays all go on the starting double. The official rules ask for six dominoes around it, three on each side, before play goes anywhere else. Some tables play one on each of its four sides instead.

Whenever someone plays a double after that, they call "chicken foot", and the next three dominoes must go on that double, its toes, before anyone plays elsewhere. If you can't play, draw one domino from the boneyard and play it if you can. If not, your turn passes.

When a round ends, and variants

A round ends as soon as someone plays their last domino, or when the boneyard is empty and nobody can play. Everyone adds up the pips in their hand, and the next player to the left starts the next round, from the next double down.

The double blank at 25

Some versions count it 25 instead of 50.

Going out on a double

Some tables add 50 to a player who plays a double as their last domino, since a double should be covered.

A shorter game

The official rules let you agree on fewer rounds before you start.

Chicken Foot vs Mexican Train

Both games are scored the same way: the pips left in your hand count against you, there's one round for each double counting down, and the lowest total wins. What differs is the play, and the double blank.

The layout

Chicken Foot grows one shared layout out of the double in the middle. In Mexican Train, everyone builds their own train, plus a Mexican Train anyone can play on.

Doubles

In Chicken Foot, a double takes three dominoes, the chicken foot, before play goes on. In Mexican Train, one domino on a double is enough.

The set

Chicken Foot is usually played with a double-9 set and 10 rounds, Mexican Train with a double-12 set and 13 rounds.

The double blank

50 in Chicken Foot. In Mexican Train's usual rules it's 0, and 50 at some tables.

A scoring example

Four players with a double-9 set, the first three rounds. A 0 means that player went out.

In the double 9 round, Dev was caught with the double blank, a 5 and 4, and a 3 and blank: 50 + 9 + 3 = 62. Cleo leads with 23, and there are seven rounds to go, ending with the double blank.