There’s a common misconception that the Mexican Train Dominoes game is a drinking game. In reality, it’s more of a lighthearted game for all ages. Read on to learn about this classic game, and find out the difference between a Mexican Train and a Domino Train!
Differences in the definition
Mexican Train
Mexican Train is a dominoes game where the object of the game is for a player to play all of the tiles from their hands on one or more chains, or trains, emanating from a central hub. However, unless you play with the Mexican train–which belongs to all players–the game is usually called “domino trains”. It’s related in structure and name to the game Chicken Foot.
In the United States, Mexican Train Dominoes is a variation of Pai Gow, a Chinese game that means “make nine”. The Latin American version was invented when Chinese laborers brought the game to Latin America while working in sugar fields after they began arriving in the mid-1800s. Cubans and other Latin Americans adopted versions where they used dominoes, and they called it Domino Cubano. It eventually arrived in the United States around the 1860s when Cuban laborers came here to work on U.S. railroads. It became popular among players who were primarily Cuban and Mexican laborers coming to America for jobs. Americans going by the name “Mexican Train Dominoes” because of its popularity with those groups.
Domino Train
With the Domino Train Toy, you set up the dominos one after another without any effort on your part. Load the domino cartridge into the train and position it to run along the course of your choice. The train will sound great as it sets up all of these dominos, perfect for a variety of situations. When you’re done playing, knock them all down in classic domino fashion.
Differences in the number of players
Mexican Train can accommodate up to eight players while domino train is only one.
Differences in Game Play
Mexican Train
This can be seen with a double-twelve set, in which the higher double is placed in the station each round. The lower double is then used in following rounds until they are all completed. The final round is the double-blank set, which has no doubles next to each other that add to twenty.
To play, you need to match the end of one domino to the beginning of another. When you make a match, lay it down on the grid. If you can’t play because your hands are empty, or if there are no more matching dominoes in either the boneyard or your hand, take a domino from the boneyard and then start playing at the end spot of one of your matched dominoes. Continue until you have no more dominoes to place. The person who plays all ten of their dominoes first wins!
Trains are as long as the players want them to be; they stop when all of their pieces matches the endpoints. Therefore, trains can get very long with an additional domino set. Play is acceptable “bend” the train 90° or 180° to keep it on the playing surface, as long as it does not interfere with other trains’.
Domino Train
Domino Train is a kind of train toy for kids. So basically, there is no game play. Just press the “on” button and enjoy the game.
Conclusion
The difference between Mexican Train and Domino Train is very clear. One is for adult, while the other is for kids.
