Chickenfoot

Chickenfoot

Chickenfoot is a dominoes variant where doubles create a three-pronged branch called a chickenfoot — named for its resemblance to a chicken’s foot. All three prongs must be filled before play can continue on any other open end of the layout.

Setup

Use a standard double-six set (28 tiles). Each player draws tiles:

Remaining tiles form the boneyard.

Starting the Round

The player holding the double-six plays it to start the layout. If no player holds it, players draw from the boneyard until one does. On subsequent rounds, use double-five, double-four, down to double-zero.

The Chickenfoot Rule

When any player plays a double tile onto the layout, play pauses. That double becomes a chickenfoot junction with 3 open ends. All three ends must be filled — each with a tile matching the double’s number — before any player may play on any other open end. During a chickenfoot phase, only tiles matching the double value may be played.

Normal Play

When no chickenfoot is active, the current player may play a tile matching any open end of the layout. If unable to play, the player draws from the boneyard until they can play or the boneyard is exhausted (then they pass).

Scoring

The round ends when one player plays their last tile, or when no player can play. The player with the lowest pip total remaining in hand wins the round and scores the total pips held by all other players. Play a round for each double (double-six through double-zero). Lowest cumulative score after all rounds wins.