ECKomino an solo trick-taking domino game, by John Burton 1

OVERVIEW:
ECKomino is a solo trick-taking domino game where you play against the AI opponent ECK attempting to collect
trick tiles by winning exactly the number of tricks shown on the available trick tiles.

CONTENTS (printable on one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper):

GAME TILES (32 TOTAL: 28 Dot/Shape tiles and 4 circle tiles):

Symbols on tiles act as both Shapes (Suits) and Dots (Ranks) for the tile, ranking from lowest to highest:

white circle point (1) line(2) triangle(3) square(4) pentagon(5) hexagon(6) star(7) black circle

The game tiles share the various Symbols in combinations, similar to dominoes, where each Symbol is included on
a tile with itself and each other Symbol once. The exception is the circles, where there are two tiles with only
white circles, and two tiles with only black circles.

TRICK TILES OTHER TILES

Numbered 2, 4, 6, 8, 9/0 with a colored side and a gray side. Shape/Dots Marker, Counter, and Switcher

SETUP:
1. Place the TRICK TILES in order color-side up
at the top of the play area
2. Place the COUNTER and SWITCHER (if using)
TRICK TILES counter switcher*
close by the TRICK TILES. *see variations

3. Shuffle GAME TILES face down.

4. Draw 9 GAME TILES for yourself. PLAYING
5. Collect the remaining 23 tiles face down AREA
together in a row, a pile, or into a bag. Shape/Dots
ECK (23 tiles)
This row/pile/bag is referred to as “ECK”, marker

your AI opponent.
6. Place the Shape/Dots Marker into the
playing area.
Your Hand (9 tiles)
ECKomino an solo trick-taking domino game, by John Burton 2
GAME PLAY:
ECK utilizes mechanics that are familiar to traditional trick-taking card games such as leading, following suit
(Shape) and taking a trick, which are explained below. In this game, either you or the ECK leads a single tile, then
the other follows with a single tile from their hand/pile, with a result of the trick decided based on the tiles played.
Each ROUND is 9 tricks, one for each tile in your hand. The CIRCLE tiles are like trumps that either always win or
always lose. There is no bidding or declaring in advance how many tricks will be taken in a round.

The Shape/Dots Marker: The Shape/Dots marker is placed vertically in the Shape/Dots Marker Example:
play area, and all tiles are placed next to it during play. The marker
determines which Symbol is the Shape and which Symbol is the Dots of the SHAPE: SQUARE
tiles played. The Shape symbol (◆) indicates which symbol on the tiles
played is the Shape, and the Dots symbol (⁘) indicates which symbol on the DOTS: 2
tiles is the Dots value of the tile. When beginning a game, you choose the
direction of the Shape/Dots Marker.

The first tile played in a trick is the LEAD tile:

❖ ECK always leads the first trick of a round
❖ The winner of a trick leads the next trick
❖ If you lead, you may play any tile in your hand and choose the Dots/Shape direction of that tile
❖ If ECK leads, draw a face down tile from the ECK pile for ECK’s lead.
❖ When ECK leads, you must play it face down first, then flip it over and place it next to the Shape/Dots
marker without rotating it to preserve its vertical positioning.
The second tile to be played in a trick is the FOLLOW tile:
❖ If you are following, you must play a tile of the same Shape as the lead tile if possible. Otherwise you may
play any tile in your hand.
❖ If ECK follows, pick an unused tile from the ECK pile repeatedly until one of these tiles is found to play:
▪ A tile that has a Symbol that is the same as the Shape of the lead tile
▪ A tile that has a Symbol that is the same as the Dots of the lead tile
▪ A circle tile
❖ When a playable tile is found, rotate it to match either the matching Shape or Dots of the lead tile.
❖ ECK tiles turned over while looking for a playable tile are placed face down in a separate “USED” pile
▪ If you run out of ECK tiles, shuffle the tiles of the USED pile and place them in the ECK pile.
If two of the same Dots tile are played, that is a “tied trick”:
❖ Both tiles of the trick are temporarily moved to the side to be won later.
❖ Play another trick with the leader of the tied trick leading the next trick.
❖ The winner of that trick takes both the trick won and the tied trick (this counts as winning 2 tricks).
❖ If another tie occurs, push those tiles aside and repeat until a winner is found. That winner will take all
the tied tricks.

After all the tricks are done, the number of tricks you won determines result of the game.
ECKomino an solo trick-taking domino game, by John Burton 3
DETERMINING TRICK WINNER:
At the end of each trick, the winner of the trick collects the tiles, and they are placed near them (either near you
or near the ECK). It is important to show the number of tricks won by both you and ECK. Tiles won in tricks must
stay face down for the remainder of the round and cannot be looked at. Trick winners are determined as follows:
❖ If the follow tile is same Shape as the lead tile, the tile with the most Dots will win (see pg. 1 for ranking).
❖ If the follow tile is a different Shape but has the same Dots as the lead tile, the trick is tied.
▪ If the last trick of a round is a tie, the leader wins the trick.
❖ If the follow tile is a different Shape and different Dots than the LEAD tile, the follower loses the trick.
▪ This can only happen to you, not ECK.
❖ CIRCLE tiles are exceptions to the above rules, see below.

Circle Tiles:
The black and white circle tiles either always win or always lose tricks when played. ECK can lead or follow with a
circle tile without restriction. You can lead a circle tile without restriction, but you can only follow with a circle
tile if you cannot follow with a tile of the same Shape as the lead tile. Any time you lead with a circle, ECK's first
tile is the follow tile. Tricks with circles win or lose as follows:
❖ A black circle always wins against any Shape/Dots tile
❖ A white circle always loses against any Shape/Dots tile
❖ 2 black circles in the same trick or 2 white circles in the same trick is a tie.
❖ When a white and a black circle are played to the same trick, the white circle wins

TRICK EXAMPLES:

LEAD: Pentagon Shape, 3 Dots LEAD: Point Shape, 7 Dots

FOLLOW: Pentagon Shape, 7 Dots FOLLOW: Point Shape, 1 Dot
Trick Winner: FOLLOW Trick Winner: LEAD
Why? same Shape, 7 Dots > 3 Dots Why? same Shape, 7 Dots > 1 Dot

LEAD: Hexagon Shape, 3 Dots LEAD: White Circle

FOLLOW: Star Shape, 4 Dots FOLLOW: Triangle Shape, 2 Dots
Trick Winner: LEAD Trick Winner: FOLLOW
Why? follow not Shape/Dots of lead Why? Symbol tile beats white circle

LEAD: Pentagon Shape, 2 Dots LEAD: White Circle

FOLLOW: Point Shape, 2 Dots FOLLOW: Black Circle
Trick Winner: TIE Trick Winner: LEAD
Why? Same Dots Why? White circle beats black circle

TAKING TRICK TILES:

You win the game by collecting three different TRICK TILES. You collect a
trick tile any time you end a round having won the number of tricks on a
remaining trick tile. For example, if you win 6 tricks in a round, you collect
trick tile 6. If you win the number of tricks on a tile that has already been
taken, then you collect no trick tiles. win 6 tricks
take the 6 tile
ECKomino an solo trick-taking domino game, by John Burton 4
Trick tiles start color-side up, but if ECK wins the number of tricks on a trick tile in a round, the corresponding tile
is turned gray-side up. If ECK wins the number of tricks on a trick tile that is already gray-side up (meaning ECK
won that number of tricks twice without you having won that tile yet), then ECK wins the tile and you lose the
entire game. However, if you win the number of tricks on a trick tile that is gray-side up, you collect that tile and
ECK can no longer win that tile even if ECK wins that number of tricks again. Any time you win or lose all 9 tricks,
you collect the 9/0 tile. ECK cannot win the 9/0 tile. If you win three different trick tiles, you win!

THE COUNTER TILE:

If during the game, there are four rounds where you do not win a trick tile before winning the game, the game is
over and ECK wins the game. To keep track of this, use the COUNTER tile. It starts with the Ø on top. Once you
play a round without winning a trick tile, rotate the counter tile a quarter turn (45°). The next round you don’t
win a trick tile, rotate the counter tile again so the Ø is on the bottom. If you fail to win a trick tile 2 more times
before winning, thus returning the Ø symbol to the top, you lose the game.

LOSE
rotate rotate rotate rotate

top right bottom left top

EXAMPLE GAME:
Round 1: You win 6 tricks. You take trick tile 6.
Round 2: You win 6 tricks again. You take no trick tiles. Turn the counter from top to right
Round 3: ECK wins 8 tricks. Rotate trick tile 8 to the gray side. Turn the counter from right to bottom
Round 4: You win 8 tricks. You collect trick tile 8.
Round 5: ECK wins 4 tricks. Rotate trick tile 4 to the gray side. Turn the counter from top to bottom to left
Round 6: You win 2 tricks. You collect trick tile 2. You have collected 3 trick tiles, so you win the game!

GAME DIFFICULTY LEVELS & VARIANTS:

ECKomino is a flexible game that gives you a number of playing options to explore. Below is a description of
different ways to modify the game. If you come up with your own variations, please let me know!

Number of Trick Tiles Needed to Win

The standard number of trick tiles needed to win is three, however you may adjust this number to vary the
difficulty level and the length of the game. Beginners may want to set the number at one or two for a short easy
game. To increase the challenge, you may choose to try to win four or even all five trick tiles.

Number of Turns on the Counter

For an easier game, you can eliminate the counter altogether and just play until either you collect the number of
trick tiles you need to win, or until ECK wins a gray-side up trick tile so you lose. This variant can lead to longer
games, but there is less pressure. On the other hand, you can increase the difficulty by reducing the number of
turns you allow on the counter before losing the game.
ECKomino an solo trick-taking domino game, by John Burton 5
Looking at Face Down Tiles
One way to make the game somewhat easier is to allow looking at any of the following face down tiles won in
tricks by either you or ECK, or the face down tiles in the USED pile. You can choose the level of difficulty by which
you allow yourself to look at. However it is never allowed to look at face down tiles currently in ECK’s pile.

The Switcher
During a game, if you use the Switcher tile, you can switch the position of the Shape/Dots marker or individual
played tiles to change which Symbol on the tiles is the Shape and which is the Dots. The Switcher tile tracks the
number of switches you have made during the game. This ability gives you an advantage, so the number of
switches you allow yourself determines the difficulty of the game. It is suggested you allow no more than 4
switches in a game. Similar to the counter, if you track 4 switches in a game, then turn the tile a quarter turn each
time you make a switch. If you allow only 2, then rotate the tile a half turn. If allowing only one switch, you can
flip the tile over once a switch is done.

Fixed Vertical Position

A challenging variation to the game is to fix the position of your tiles once you have drawn them at the start of the
game. This means, once you draw your hand of 9 tiles and choose the vertical direction of each tile, you are not
allowed to rotate the tiles at all during the remainder of the game. In this variation, you can set the direction of
your tiles, then set the direction of the Shape/Dots marker as you think will be most advantageous for you. Using
the Switcher tile may be very valuable in this version (4 switches per game is recommended). Each of the following
actions counts as one switch:
• Rotating ECK’s played tile to swap the Shape and Dots
• Rotating your played tile to swap the Shape and Dots
• Rotating the Shape/Dots Marker
In this variant, if the Shape/Dots Marker is set with Shape on top and Dots on bottom, then all of your tiles will be
set with the Shape on top and the Dots on bottom. The only exception to this is if ECK is following, you must
rotate ECK’s tile to match suit or dots as appropriate. This challenging variant leads to a very different experience.

Free Rotation
In this version, you chose the Shape and Dots of any tile played by ECK. In this variant, the Switcher is not needed
because you can rotate all tiles freely. This version, though potentially less challenging, will still provide a satisfying
gaming experience without the restrictions of the standard and Fixed Vertical Position versions. This variant too
will provide a very different game experience.

If you give this game a try and discover your own variations you’d like to share, or if you have any questions about
the game, feel free to email me at johnburtoncontact@gmail.com.