chicken foot dominoes

I learned this game from some friendly ladies here at our Florida home 

and we have enjoyed playing it with our southern friends.  

Hope you folks in Brockport will give it a try with us. 

You will find a printable pdf of the instructions at the end of this post.

Do you play this game and have any rules you have tweaked to make it fun?

Our Official Hastings Chicken Foot Domino Game Rules 

Chicken Foot is played in rounds, one round for each double domino in the set. We normally play with 4 players using double-nines or 6 players using double-twelve

The object of the game is to have the lowest score at the end of the last round. For each round, the object is for the player to empty their hand of dominoes by playing them on the board.

Setup
The dominoes are turned face down and shuffled. Then, each player picks ten dominoes to form their hand.

The round begins with the highest double being placed in the center of the layout to start the round. In the case of Double-9 dominoes, the game would begin by playing the double-9 domino. The second hand would begin with the double-8, the third hand with the double-7, etc.

In the first round only, everyone draws a single domino from the bone yard. The player drawing the highest value begins the round. The player to the starter’s left begins the next round etc.

Begin Play
The starting player must play a matching domino (one with an end of the same value as the double) from their hand on one of the four sides of the double, with the matching end against the double. The next player plays another matching domino on a remaining side, and this continues until four sides are filled. If a player cannot play because they do not have a matching domino, then the player must draw one domino from the bone yard. If that domino does not match, their turn passes to the next player. No other plays can be made until all four sides of the double are filled.

Once all four sides are filled, the next player can play any domino in their hand that matches an exposed end of a played domino. If a player is unable to match any exposed domino, they must draw one domino from the bone yard and either play it if possible or pass. If the bone yard has been emptied, any player who cannot play simply passes. If no player can play or draw, the round ends.

Chicken Foot
Any time a player plays a double on an endpoint, the player calls "Chicken (Number)" to indicate they have started a new "chicken foot". For example, if a player played a double 4 on the end of a 6/4 domino they would lay it long side against the end with the 4 and call "Chicken Four". No other dominoes can be played until three more 4's are played against the side of the double 4. Any player who does not have a domino matching the played double must draw a domino from the bone yard and then play it if it matches or pass. Once three matching dominoes are played to close the chicken foot, the next player may play a domino on any matching endpoint, including any of the three branches of the new chicken foot. No one may play on any other domino until the chicken foot is closed. Our own exception/variation: Once you know that there are no longer three free dominoes, in the bone yard or someone’s hand, to close the Chicken Foot, consider the Chicken Foot closed and play on.

Ending a Round
A round is over when either one player plays the last domino in their hand or no players can make a play. At the end of each round, each player sums up the spots on the dominoes in their hand, which becomes their score for that hand and is added to their running total. When a round for each double has been played, the game is over and player with the lowest score wins.

A game can end in a double if it is the last domino in a player’s hand. If it does, the player who plays the double does not have to “close it” with another domino. At the end of a round if a player holds a blank it counts as 25 points. Thus the double blank in any hand at the end of a round scores 50 points.

Notes
     * When a player has one domino left he must announce it by saying “Chicken Little” as a courtesy however there is no penalty if he forgets.
     * It is a good idea to play a double when another player has a single domino left, to force that player to draw another tile on their next turn.
     * Try to get rid of all blanks as soon as possible, so you do not get stuck with them.
     * Watch which doubles have not been played and try to save a tile in those suits as protection.

References used:
Lesson from some CCE Ladies, Wikipedia, Domino-games.com, Tedmontgomery.com (score sheets)


chicken_foot_dominoes.pdf
chicken_foot_scoresheet_double_12s.pdf
chicken_foot_scoresheet_double_9s.pdf

Thank you Dotty for this fun Chicken Foot Centerpiece.

Looks like we can also use it for Mexican Train Dominoes.