How to Play
All Fives Dominoes Scoring Rules, Explained From Zero
Almost every scoring dispute at an All Fives table comes down to one of three things: a missed double, a spinner that should have stopped counting, or a branch that wasn't actually open yet. Here is exactly how the number on the board is built, so none of those catch you again.
The rule in one sentence
After you place a tile, add up every open end currently on the board. If that total is a positive multiple of five, you score exactly that total. If it isn't, you score nothing.
That is the entire system — there is no separate table of point values, no counting your own tiles, no partial credit. The confusion people run into is never the rule itself. It is figuring out which numbers are allowed to be part of that sum on any given turn, which is what the rest of this page is for.
What actually counts as an “open end”
The board grows outward from the spinner in up to four directions: west, east, north and south. Only the tip of each active branch is an open end — everything behind it is buried and does not count toward anything.
West and east are live from the very first tile. North and south are not. They stay locked until both the west side and the east side of the spinner have at least one tile attached. Until that moment, a board that looks like it has four arms really only has two open ends to add — the other two aren't in play, so they don't enter the total at all.
This is the single most common source of a wrong total early in a hand: someone tries to add a number sitting on an unopened branch. If north or south hasn't unlocked yet, whatever is sitting out there does not exist for scoring purposes.
Doubles count double — always
Wherever a double lands at an open end, it counts its full face value, both halves at once. A 6-6 sitting at an end is worth 12, not 6. A 4-4 is worth 8, not 4. This is true no matter which branch the double is on — it does not have to be the spinner.
This rule is also why the arithmetic can jump around more than new players expect. Covering a plain end with a double doesn't just replace one number with another — it can swing the total by a lot more than the pip difference between the two tiles suggests, because the double is worth twice its face.
The spinner: it counts, then it stops
This is where most of the real confusion lives, because the spinner behaves differently depending on exactly how covered it is.
- Alone, right after it's played: the spinner sits by itself with nothing attached. It is fully exposed, and it counts its full face value doubled — a 5-5 opener alone is already worth 10.
- One side covered: the spinner is still exposed as long as no more than one of its east/west sides has a tile. It keeps counting its doubled face value on top of whatever the open ends add up to.
- Both sides covered: the instant a tile has been attached to both the east side and the west side of the spinner, it stops counting entirely — and at that same moment, north and south unlock. From here on, only the actual open ends at the tips of the branches matter. The spinner's own value is no longer part of the sum.
Knowing exactly which of these three states the board is in is the difference between a total that is right and one that is off by the spinner's value.
Worked examples, with the arithmetic shown
1. Opening double, spinner exposed alone
The 5-5 is the only tile on the board. It is fully exposed: 5 × 2 = 10. Ten is a multiple of five — score 10, before a second tile has even been played.
2. Spinner exposed with one side covered
The spinner is 6-6. A 6-3 has been attached to the east side, leaving that branch's open end at 3. The west side is still empty, so the spinner is still exposed: (6 × 2) + 3 = 15. Score 15.
3. Both spinner sides covered — it stops counting
A tile now covers the west side too. The spinner is fully covered, so it drops out of the total, and north/south unlock. Say the west branch's open end is now 4 and the east branch's open end is 6: 4 + 6 = 10. Notice the spinner's own 6-6 face is not part of this sum at all anymore. Score 10.
4. A double at a regular end
With the spinner covered and out of the count, a 4-4 now caps the north branch. That end alone is worth 4 × 2 = 8. Add the west end at 2 and the east end at 3 and the south end at 1: 8 + 2 + 3 + 1 = 14. Fourteen is not a multiple of five — score 0, even though a double is on the board.
5. Four open ends, all in play
Once north and south have unlocked, every branch that has tiles contributes its own open end to the same total — there is no limit to how many ends can be summed at once, as long as each one is genuinely open. A board reading 3, 5, 6 and 6 across its four branches is 3 + 5 + 6 + 6 = 20. Score 20.
Where people get this wrong
Do I add up the spinner every single turn?
Only while it is exposed — meaning no more than one of its two sides has a tile on it. The moment both the east and west sides of the spinner are covered, it drops out of the total completely. From then on it is just another tile buried in the chain, and only the actual open ends at the tips of the branches get counted.
Why did my double only count once?
A double sitting at an open end always counts its full face value, both halves at once. A 6-6 at an open end is worth 12, not 6. If you only added it once you undercounted the board. This applies to any double at any open end, not just the spinner.
Why can't I add the top and bottom of the board yet?
North and south stay closed until both the west side and the east side of the spinner have at least one tile attached. Until that happens there is nothing to add on the other two branches, because they are not open yet — the board only has west and east (or just the spinner) in play.
The board reads 9 or 13. Why didn't I score anything?
Because the total has to be a positive multiple of five — 5, 10, 15, 20 and so on. Any other total, no matter how large, scores zero. There is no partial credit and no rounding on your own turn; the total either lands on a multiple of five or it doesn't.
Can you score on the very first tile of the hand?
Yes. The opening double becomes the spinner and is exposed the instant it hits the board, so it counts immediately. Open with 5-5 and the total is already 10 before anyone else has played a tile.
Once the spinner stops counting, is it gone for good?
It stops contributing its own value to the total, but it never leaves the board. If a later double happens to land at one of the open ends further down a branch, that double counts double on its own — it just has nothing to do with the spinner anymore.
Counting it in your head is one thing. Counting it under pressure is the real test.
freshIvories calculates every total automatically, so you can spend your attention on the play instead of the arithmetic — but the fastest way to actually learn it is still to sit at a real board.