game
Mexican Train online — rules, facts, and a live table
Mexican Train is a double-12 domino game. The double twelve starts as the engine. Each player owns a personal train; a public Mexican train is open to everyone. Play a matching end or draw from the boneyard. First player to empty their hand wins; leftover pips score against you.
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What you are looking at
Mexican Train is a double-12 domino game. The double twelve starts as the engine. Each player owns a personal train; a public Mexican train is open to everyone. Play a matching end or draw from the boneyard. First player to empty their hand wins; leftover pips score against you.
Bone or ivory dominoes with inset pips, a dark wood hub, and branching trains. Tiles are thick rectangular prisms, not playing cards.
Origin
Mexican Train It is associated with United States (domino family from 13th-century China / 18th-century Italy in ancestry). Dating: Late 20th-century American domino variant; popularized in the 1990s hobby market.
Equipment
Double-12 set: 91 dominoes. The [12|12] is the engine. Train markers and an optional hub.
Players: 2–8. Typical duration: 30–60 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers to what people search — for Google, voice, and assistants.
How many dominoes are in Mexican Train?
A double-12 set has 91 tiles — the usual Mexican Train set and what Tilehaus deals. Double-9 (55) and double-15 (136) sets exist for smaller or larger parties.
How many players can play Mexican Train?
Two to eight on a double-12 set. Tilehaus seats 2–8. Deal sizes on this table: 16 tiles for 2 players, 15 for 3, and 12 for 4 or more.
What is the Mexican train?
It is the public extra train that anyone may play on, in addition to each player’s personal train. Personal trains start closed. After you cannot play and draw, your train opens and opponents may add to it.
How do you start Mexican Train?
The double 12 is the engine. Players start personal trains from that hub by matching a 12. Later hands step the engine down (11, 10, …) in many living-room rules; Tilehaus uses the double-12 engine for the teaching table.
What happens if you can’t play in Mexican Train?
Draw one tile from the boneyard. If you still cannot play, your personal train opens (a marker goes on it) and the turn passes. Playing on your own train later closes it again.
How do you win Mexican Train?
Empty your hand. Leftover pips on other racks score against those players. A full boxed evening is often 13 hands (one per double from 12 down to blank); a single Tilehaus hand is the race to go out.
Do you have to cover a double in Mexican Train?
Common house rules say a double is played sideways and must be covered (satisfied) before play continues on that train. Tilehaus follows the teaching table: match the free end; doubles do not branch the way Chicken Foot does.
Can you play Mexican Train online free?
Yes. Tilehaus runs a free double-12 Mexican Train table in the browser. Bots fill empty seats up to eight.