Muggins

Muggins is for two to four players, each scoring individually. Score positive multiples of five from a single line’s two open ends and race to the target. Doubles never branch. At round end, each player’s unplayed tiles reduce that player’s own score.

Equipment, players, and targets

Use one complete double-six set of 28 tiles. Every player has an individual score, including with four players.

Mix the tiles face down before dealing and keep each hand private until round settlement.

• With two players, deal 7 tiles each and play to 250 raw pip points.
• With three or four players, deal 5 tiles each and play to 200 raw pip points.
• Leave all undealt tiles face down as the drawable boneyard.

Scores are raw pip points: a score of 15 means fifteen points, not three display units. A player wins as soon as the score reaches or exceeds the applicable target.

Start a round

Choose the first leader by a neutral lot; repeat it among tied candidates if necessary. In later rounds, the player who dominoed leads. If the preceding round was blocked, choose the next leader by lot again.

The leader may open with any tile. Turns then move clockwise, and one completed placement or permitted pass ends the turn.

Play matching tiles

Except for the opening tile, play a tile by matching one of its halves to an open end. The other half becomes the new open end.

Place every double crosswise. A double that is still at an open end counts both halves: a terminal counts 12. Once a tile is played beyond it, the double is internal and no longer contributes directly. No double opens a side branch, including an opening double.

For example, if one open end is 3 and a player attaches a terminal at the other end, the total is 3 + 6 + 6 = 15. The player scores 15. Once the double is continued, only the two outer ends are used.

Draw and pass

If you cannot make a legal placement, draw one tile at a time from the boneyard. Stop and place immediately when you draw a playable tile. If the boneyard becomes empty and you still cannot play, pass; the next player takes a turn.

You may not draw while a legal placement is available, and you may not pass while a drawable tile remains. A round is blocked only after the drawable boneyard is empty and no player can make a legal placement.

Score a placement

After every placement, total the two open ends. Score the exact total when it is a positive multiple of five; otherwise score zero.

The tile that empties a hand is scored normally before the round is settled.

End a round and apply the debits

A round ends when a player places the last tile from a hand or when all players are blocked. Reveal the remaining hands. For every scoring entity, total the pips in that entity’s own hand, round the total to the nearest multiple of five, and subtract it from that entity’s score.

• Totals ending in 1 or 2 round down: totals 2 and debits 0.
• Totals ending in 3 or 4 round up: totals 3 and debits 5.
• Exact multiples of five remain unchanged.

The player who dominoes is recorded as the round finisher and leads the next round. A blocked round has no winner, no hand award, and no inherited leader; use a new lot for the next round.

Because placement points are scored as they occur, reaching the target ends the match immediately. The resulting round is not completed merely to apply later debits.

Optional paper tally

One stroke records 5 raw points. A large central X and a small x in each of its four surrounding spaces form a 50-point symbol.

Source note

These rules follow the main Muggins form recorded by Pagat.