Seven Rocks is for four players in two partnerships. Deal all 28 tiles, score positive multiples of five and race to 250 points without drawing. Only the first double is a spinner. Remaining tiles reduce the partnership score, with each partner’s hand rounded separately.
Players, equipment, and objective
Exactly four players form two partnerships. Partners sit opposite one another, and each partnership keeps one shared score.
Use one complete double-six set of 28 tiles. Record points as they are scored on a cribbage board or an arithmetically equivalent score record. Scores are raw pip points. The first partnership to reach at least 250 points wins immediately.
Deal and lead
Mix all tiles face down. Deal 7 tiles to each player, using all 28 tiles. Keep hands private during play. There is no boneyard and no drawing.
Choose the first-round leader by a neutral lot. The leader may open with any tile in hand. After a player dominoes, that player leads the next round. After a blocked round, choose the next leader by a new neutral lot. Turns move clockwise around the table.
Repeat a tied lot among the tied candidates; tiles in a dealt hand do not grant starting priority.
Play a tile
After the opening, play one tile by matching one of its halves to an open value. The other half normally becomes a new outer end. If you have a legal placement, you must make one. If you have none, knock or pass and let the next player take a turn.
All doubles are laid crosswise. A double at an outer end contributes both of its halves to the scoring total until another tile continues that end. Once continued, the double becomes internal and contributes nothing directly.
Doubles at an end and inside the layout
A terminal double contributes both halves. The following position shows what changes when its line is continued. The orange outline identifies a spinner, not an automatic scoring end. Only the first eligible double is a spinner; later doubles do not open branches.
Filled number: counted contributionHollow dot: legal continuation not counted here
Placed [4|4]
Counted contributions: 2 + 8 = 10. Placement award: 10 raw points.
Counted contributions: 2 + 8 = 10. Placement award: 10 raw points. Tiles: [1|4], [1|1], [4|4]. Spinners: [1|1]. Connections: [1|4] (low end) – [1|1] (line A); [1|4] (high end) – [4|4] (line A). Legal continuation ports: [1|1] (line B, 1); [4|4] (line B, 4). Counted contributions: [1|1]: 2; [4|4]: 8.
Placed [3|4]
Counted contributions: 2 + 3 = 5. Placement award: 5 raw points.
Counted contributions: 2 + 3 = 5. Placement award: 5 raw points. Tiles: [1|4], [1|1], [4|4], [3|4]. Spinners: [1|1]. Connections: [1|4] (low end) – [1|1] (line A); [1|4] (high end) – [4|4] (line A); [4|4] (line B) – [3|4] (high end). Legal continuation ports: [1|1] (line B, 1); [3|4] (low end, 3). Counted contributions: [1|1]: 2; [3|4]: 3.
Placed [2|2]
Counted contributions: 4 = 4. Placement award: 0 raw points.
Counted contributions: 4 = 4. Placement award: 0 raw points. Tiles: [2|2]. Spinners: [2|2]. Connections: none. Legal continuation ports: [2|2] (line A, 2); [2|2] (line B, 2). Counted contributions: [2|2]: 4.
The single spinner
The first double played in a round is the one and only spinner. An opening double is eligible. Later doubles never become spinners.
The spinner has four possible connections, but they open in a fixed order:
- Use the two straight-through line sides first.
- Only after both line sides are occupied may players use either branch side.
- Each begun branch creates another outer scoring end.
Until both line sides are occupied, the spinner remains a terminal double and both of its halves count. As soon as both line sides are occupied, the spinner itself stops contributing. Its still-unused branch connections count as zero; only the outer ends of branches that have actually begun are counted.
For example, open with : the scoring-end total is 10, so the opening scores 10 points. Attach to one line side: the spinner still contributes 10 and the new outer end contributes 0, so this placement also scores 10. Attach to the other line side: the spinner is now internal, leaving outer ends 0 and 2, for a total of 2 and no score. The branch sides are now available. Playing on one branch creates a third outer end and raises the total to 0 + 2 + 3 = 5, scoring 5 points.
Opening spinner branches
Both line continuations must be filled before a side branch can open. An open continuation port and a counted scoring end are different things. An unopened side branch adds nothing once the spinner's two line continuations are filled.
Filled number: counted contributionHollow dot: legal continuation not counted here
Placed [1|2]
Counted contributions: 2 + 3 = 5. Placement award: 5 raw points.
Counted contributions: 2 + 3 = 5. Placement award: 5 raw points. Tiles: [1|4], [1|1], [4|4], [3|4], [1|2]. Spinners: [1|1]. Connections: [1|4] (low end) – [1|1] (line A); [1|4] (high end) – [4|4] (line A); [4|4] (line B) – [3|4] (high end); [1|1] (line B) – [1|2] (low end). Legal continuation ports: [1|1] (branch A, 1); [1|1] (branch B, 1); [1|2] (high end, 2); [3|4] (low end, 3). Counted contributions: [1|2]: 2; [3|4]: 3.
Placed [1|5]
Counted contributions: 2 + 5 + 3 = 10. Placement award: 10 raw points.
Counted contributions: 2 + 5 + 3 = 10. Placement award: 10 raw points. Tiles: [1|4], [1|1], [4|4], [3|4], [1|2], [1|5]. Spinners: [1|1]. Connections: [1|4] (low end) – [1|1] (line A); [1|4] (high end) – [4|4] (line A); [4|4] (line B) – [3|4] (high end); [1|1] (line B) – [1|2] (low end); [1|1] (branch A) – [1|5] (low end). Legal continuation ports: [1|1] (branch B, 1); [1|2] (high end, 2); [1|5] (high end, 5); [3|4] (low end, 3). Counted contributions: [1|2]: 2; [1|5]: 5; [3|4]: 3.
Placed [0|5]
Counted contributions: 0 + 2 + 3 = 5. Placement award: 5 raw points.
Counted contributions: 0 + 2 + 3 = 5. Placement award: 5 raw points. Tiles: [1|4], [1|1], [4|4], [3|4], [1|2], [1|5], [5|5], [0|5]. Spinners: [1|1]. Connections: [1|4] (low end) – [1|1] (line A); [1|4] (high end) – [4|4] (line A); [4|4] (line B) – [3|4] (high end); [1|1] (line B) – [1|2] (low end); [1|1] (branch A) – [1|5] (low end); [1|5] (high end) – [5|5] (line A); [5|5] (line B) – [0|5] (high end). Legal continuation ports: [0|5] (low end, 0); [1|1] (branch B, 1); [1|2] (high end, 2); [3|4] (low end, 3). Counted contributions: [0|5]: 0; [1|2]: 2; [3|4]: 3.
Placed [1|3]
Counted contributions: 0 + 2 + 3 + 3 = 8. Placement award: 0 raw points.
Counted contributions: 0 + 2 + 3 + 3 = 8. Placement award: 0 raw points. Tiles: [1|4], [1|1], [4|4], [3|4], [1|2], [1|5], [5|5], [0|5], [1|3]. Spinners: [1|1]. Connections: [1|4] (low end) – [1|1] (line A); [1|4] (high end) – [4|4] (line A); [4|4] (line B) – [3|4] (high end); [1|1] (line B) – [1|2] (low end); [1|1] (branch A) – [1|5] (low end); [1|5] (high end) – [5|5] (line A); [5|5] (line B) – [0|5] (high end); [1|1] (branch B) – [1|3] (low end). Legal continuation ports: [0|5] (low end, 0); [1|2] (high end, 2); [1|3] (high end, 3); [3|4] (low end, 3). Counted contributions: [0|5]: 0; [1|2]: 2; [1|3]: 3; [3|4]: 3.
Score a placement
After every placement, including the opening and a player's final tile, add all current scoring ends. If the result is a positive multiple of 5, award exactly that many raw points to the player's partnership. Otherwise award nothing.
Count logical scoring ends, not every currently playable connection. In particular, an unused spinner branch contributes zero, while a terminal double contributes both halves as described above.
With this single-spinner layout, the theoretical end total is 36 and the greatest scoreable placement total is 35.
From end total to points
Count only the marked scoring ends, including zero-valued ends. The award below is the exact placement award, not the end total or a whole-round result. A positive multiple of five scores that many raw points. Other totals, including zero, score nothing.
Filled number: counted contributionHollow dot: legal continuation not counted here
Placed [1|4]
Counted contributions: 4 + 1 = 5. Placement award: 5 raw points.
Counted contributions: 4 + 1 = 5. Placement award: 5 raw points. Tiles: [1|4]. Spinners: none. Connections: none. Legal continuation ports: [1|4] (high end, 4); [1|4] (low end, 1). Counted contributions: [1|4]: 4; [1|4]: 1.
Placed [1|1]
Counted contributions: 2 + 4 = 6. Placement award: 0 raw points.
Counted contributions: 2 + 4 = 6. Placement award: 0 raw points. Tiles: [1|4], [1|1]. Spinners: [1|1]. Connections: [1|4] (low end) – [1|1] (line A). Legal continuation ports: [1|1] (line B, 1); [1|4] (high end, 4). Counted contributions: [1|1]: 2; [1|4]: 4.
Placed [6|6]
Counted contributions: 3 + 12 = 15. Placement award: 15 raw points.
Counted contributions: 3 + 12 = 15. Placement award: 15 raw points. Tiles: [3|6], [6|6]. Spinners: [6|6]. Connections: [3|6] (high end) – [6|6] (line A). Legal continuation ports: [3|6] (low end, 3); [6|6] (line B, 6). Counted contributions: [3|6]: 3; [6|6]: 12.
Placed [0|0]
Counted contributions: 0 = 0. Placement award: 0 raw points.
Counted contributions: 0 = 0. Placement award: 0 raw points. Tiles: [0|0]. Spinners: [0|0]. Connections: none. Legal continuation ports: [0|0] (line A, 0); [0|0] (line B, 0). Counted contributions: [0|0]: 0.
End and settle a round
The round ends immediately when a player places the last tile from their hand and dominoes. It also ends blocked after all four players are unable to play in succession. There is no blocked-round winner and no separate round-end award.
After either kind of ending, total the pips remaining in each player's physical hand separately. Round each hand total to the nearest multiple of 5, with remainders 1 or 2 rounding down and remainders 3 or 4 rounding up. Subtract that independently rounded amount from the partnership that owns the hand. Never combine partners' hands before rounding.
For example, if both partners have a remaining hand total of 3, each hand rounds to
- Their shared partnership score is debited 10 in two entries. Combining the hands
first would produce 6 and then round to 5, which is not allowed.
A player who dominoed has an empty hand and therefore contributes a zero debit. The dominoer leads the next round; a block instead sends the leadership decision back to lot.
Win the match
Check the 250-point target immediately after every positive placement award. The first partnership to reach or exceed 250 wins at once. Do not continue or settle the round after that match-winning scoring event. Under this one-partnership-at-a-time scoring sequence, there is no qualifying top-score tie procedure.
Source note
These rules follow a Seven Rocks form recorded by Pagat. Play moves clockwise, each remaining hand is rounded separately, and the first partnership to 250 wins at once.