Guide
How to play Bones
Bones deals a tray of dominoes onto a gridded board split into colored regions. Place each tile on two adjacent cells so every square is covered once. Region badges demand pip sums, all-equal, all-different, greater-than, less-than, or free values when the region is complete.
Rules
- Place every domino from the tray — Each tile covers two adjacent empty cells. Select a domino in the tray, then tap two neighboring squares to lay it down.
- Do not leave gaps or overlaps — Every cell must be covered exactly once. Tiles cannot stack, cross, or sit diagonally — only edge-to-edge neighbors count.
- Rotate and flip before placing — Tap ↻ Rotate on a selected tray tile to swap its ends. Double-tap a placed domino to flip which pip sits on each cell.
- Ignore a region badge — Colored regions show a rule: pip sum = a number, all equal, all different, greater than, less than, or free. A finished region must satisfy its badge.
Tips
- Read the tray first — Count pips you need for sum regions before you commit a tile. Saving high doubles for tight = or ≠ pockets avoids dead ends.
- Anchor on region corners — Start from regions with the strictest math — exact sums and all-different zones — then grow into looser free areas.
- Use Check on one region — Check highlights only failing regions, not random cells. Fix the red badge before you place more tiles around it.
Where it comes from
Cover-the-grid domino puzzles appeared in puzzle magazines and regional math contests long before daily browsers — pip totals on grouped cells are the modern hook.
How it differs from similar puzzles
The daily is a 16-cell board. Unlimited practice adds 10- and 24-cell sizes with the same constraint vocabulary.
Also known as
Looked up as domino logic, pip regions, or a domino placement puzzle. Bones is the Coronet Arcade name.
- Domino puzzle
- Pip regions
- Domino placement
- Region sum domino
- Tray domino