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How to play Mexican Train dominoes

Each player builds a line of dominoes, their own train, out from a double in the middle called the engine, matching numbers end to end. There's also one shared line, the Mexican Train, that anyone can add to. The first player to play every tile ends the round, everyone else scores the dots left in their hand, and after 13 rounds the lowest total wins.

By Emre Özen, updated October 8, 2026. These are the rules our free Mexican Train game uses. They follow John McLeod's Mexican Train page on pagat.com. Where pagat leaves a point open, we follow the rules sheet by David Bauguess, a rewrite of the Parsons rules that Puremco published.

What you need

A double-twelve domino set: 91 tiles, every pair of numbers from 0 to 12 once. Each number shows up on 13 tiles, and the whole set holds 1,092 dots (pips). You also need a marker for each player. Pagat suggests a penny each, plus a nickel for the Mexican Train. Small plastic trains work too.

Many double-twelve sets color the dots by number so they're easier to tell apart. Our game does the same (1 blue, 2 green, 3 red, 4 brown, 5 navy, and so on). The color is only a help. You can always count the dots, or switch the game to plain numbers.

How many tiles each player gets

Pagat gives these counts. The tiles left over stay face down as the boneyard, the pile you draw from.

Players	Tiles each (pagat)	Tiles each (Bauguess rules)
2	15	16
3	15	16
4	15	15
5	12	14
6	12	12
7	10	10
8	10	9

Our game uses pagat's 15 tiles for 2, 3 or 4 players. Pagat says the game is probably best with four or more, so it's a good one for a family table.

Setting up a round

Take out the double for this round (the double-12 in round 1) and put it in the middle. That's the engine.
Shuffle the other 90 tiles face down and deal. Stand your tiles on edge so only you can see them.
The rest of the tiles are the boneyard.

Pagat's main rule is a little different: everyone draws their hand first, and whoever holds the double places it and starts. Pagat also allows the way above, putting the double out before shuffling. We use that, and the first player moves one seat to the left each round, as in the Bauguess rules.

Your first turn

On your first turn of a round you may lay as many tiles as you can on your own train, each one matching the open end of the last. Your train must start with a tile that has the engine's number. Nobody plays on another train or starts the Mexican Train on a first turn.

If none of your tiles matches the engine, you can't start your train. Put your marker where your train would begin. You don't draw on a first turn. From the second turn on, the others may start your train for you until you play on it yourself.

A double played during a first turn waits. Once everyone has had a first turn, the next player has to cover it (see doubles, below).

Every turn after that

Play one tile, matching numbers. Here's a train on a double-12 engine. Each new tile turns so its matching end touches the last one:

open end: 3

The engine, then 12-5, 5-9, the double 9 and 9-3. The next tile on this train needs a 3.

Where you can put it:

Train	Can you play on it?
Your own train	Always.
The Mexican Train	Always, from your second turn. Anyone can start it with a tile that matches the engine.
Another player's train with a marker on it	Yes.
Another player's train with no marker	No.
A train ending in a double nobody has covered	Yes, and you must, before anything else (see below).

There is only one Mexican Train, and it starts from the engine like the others. If you can play, you have to. You can't draw instead just because you'd rather keep a tile.

When you can't play: draw, then marker

If no tile in your hand fits anywhere you're allowed to play, draw one tile from the boneyard. If it fits, you must play it. If it doesn't, you pass and put your marker on your own train.

A marker means "open to everyone": any player may add to that train. It stays until you play a tile on your own train, and then it comes off. Playing on someone else's train doesn't move your marker. When the boneyard is empty and you can't play, you just pass and your marker goes down (or stays down).

Doubles

When you play a double (from your second turn on), you play again. Your next tile can go anywhere you're allowed to play. It doesn't have to go on the double.
If that next tile is also a double, you play again, and so on. Your turn ends with a tile that isn't a double, or with a pass.
If nothing fits after your double, draw one tile. Play it if you can. If not, pass and put your marker on your train.
A double left uncovered at the end of a turn has to be covered next. The next player must play a matching tile on it, even if it's on someone's private train. If they can't, they draw. If the drawn tile doesn't fit either, they pass with a marker, and the job moves on to the next player.
With several uncovered doubles, they're covered in the order they were played.
A double doesn't branch. Once a tile sits on it, the train carries on from that tile.
You may go out on a double. The round ends right away.

One thing pagat doesn't cover: what if a double can never be covered, because all 13 tiles of its number are already on the table? The Bauguess rules say it then stops holding up play, and our game does the same.

End of a round and scoring

The round ends as soon as someone plays their last tile. It also ends when nobody can play and the boneyard is empty, which players call a block. Under the first-turn rule there's one wrinkle: if someone plays out their whole hand on their first turn, everyone else still gets a first turn before the round ends.

Each player adds up the dots on the tiles still in their hand. That's their score for the round, so lower is better. The player who went out scores 0. The double blank has no dots, so it counts 0 too.

Thirteen rounds

Each round uses the next lower double as the engine, down to the double blank. The player with the lowest total after round 13 wins.

Round 1 12-12
Round 2 11-11
Round 3 10-10
Round 4 9-9
Round 5 8-8
Round 6 7-7
Round 7 6-6
Round 8 5-5
Round 9 4-4
Round 10 3-3
Round 11 2-2
Round 12 1-1
Round 13 0-0

Pagat doesn't say what happens on a tie. Wikipedia's article gives the player with more rounds at zero the win. Our game uses that, and if players are still level, they share the win. Wikipedia adds a second step that our game doesn't use: if players are still level, the one with the lowest round total other than 0 wins. Use it as a variation if you like. Keeping score at home? Our printable Mexican Train score sheet has all 13 rounds and adds up the totals for you.

Words you'll hear

Engine (or station): The double in the middle that every train starts from. It changes each round.
Train: A line of dominoes matched end to end. Each player has one, plus the shared Mexican Train.
Mexican Train: The extra train anyone can play on. It's started by any player with a tile that matches the engine.
Boneyard: The face-down tiles left after the deal. You draw from it when you can't play.
Pips: The dots on a tile. Your score is the pips left in your hand.
Marker: A penny or small train on your train, showing it's open to everyone because you couldn't play.
Covering a double: Playing a matching tile on an open double. Some rules say "satisfying" it.
Going out: Playing your last tile. It ends the round.
Block: A round that ends because nobody can play and the boneyard is empty.

Common variations

House rules differ a lot with this game. These come from our sources. Agree on them before you start.

One tile at a time from the start. No long first turn: every turn is one tile. Pagat lists it. Under the Bauguess rules you may also start the Mexican Train or draw on that first turn. Our game offers it in Settings.
Markers come off sooner. Pagat lists two versions: the marker comes off as soon as anyone adds to that train, or as soon as the owner plays anywhere.
No marker when you were stuck on a double. If you failed only because you had to cover someone's double, you don't put a marker down.
Doubles don't have to be covered, or are covered in reverse order, or only one double is allowed per turn.
Positive scoring. The player who goes out (or the lowest hand in a block) scores the total of everyone else's pips, and the highest total wins.
Different tile counts, like the Bauguess column in the table above.
A double-nine set for a faster game with 2 to 4 players, as the Bauguess rules suggest.
Blanks count more. Wikipedia mentions counting each blank as 25 and the double blank as 50 at the end of a round.
Fewer rounds. Wikipedia notes that players may agree to play fewer than 13.

Ready to try it? Play Mexican Train online against the computer, or read our Mexican Train strategy tips first.

Sources

John McLeod, "Mexican Train", pagat.com (main rules, tile counts, doubles, markers and variations).
David Bauguess, Mexican Train rules (2007 rewrite of the 1994 Parsons rules published by Puremco), as hosted by the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library (tile counts, the engine set aside, the rotating first player, uncoverable doubles).
"Mexican Train", Wikipedia (tie-break, blank scoring variant, playing fewer rounds).