Mexican Train Rules

What you need

A double-twelve domino set (91 tiles), 2–8 players, a marker for each player, and something to score with. Or skip all of that and play Mexican Train free in your browser — the TV shows the table and your phone holds your tiles.

Setup

1. Find the round's engine and place it in the center. Games run one round per double, counting down — the first round's engine is the double-12, the next round's is the double-11, and so on.
2. Deal tiles face-down: with 2–4 players take 15 each; 5–6 take 12; 7–8 take 10. The rest form the boneyard.
3. Each player will build one personal train out of the engine, plus one shared "Mexican Train" open to everyone.

Taking a turn

1. Play one tile that matches the open end of a train you're allowed to build on: your own train, the Mexican Train, or any opponent's train that has its marker up.
2. If you can't play, draw one tile from the boneyard. If it plays, play it; if not, put your marker up — your train is now open to everyone until you play on your own train again.
3. Doubles: playing a double gives you one bonus tile to play. Any double left "unsatisfied" at the end of your turn must be covered by the next player before anything else can be played anywhere — if they can't, they draw, and their marker goes up.

Ending a round & scoring

1. A round ends when one player plays their last tile ("going out") or no one can play and the boneyard is empty.
2. Everyone else totals the pips left in their hand — that's their score for the round. Lower is better.
3. A common convention: an unplayed double-0 counts 25 points (on HostBox it counts its face value: zero).
4. After the final round (the double-0 engine), the lowest total score wins.

The disputes every table argues about

Can I play on someone's open train instead of starting my own? Yes — any train with its marker up is fair game, along with the Mexican Train, on any turn after your first.

Do I have to satisfy a double even on my own train? Yes. An open double freezes the whole table until it's covered.

Can the Mexican Train start any time? Yes — any player may start it on their turn with a tile matching the engine, and it never closes.

House-rule variant: Ladner rules

A looser, faster variant: you may draw or pass whenever you like, playable tile or not, and passing still opens your train. Rounds end by domino or an empty boneyard. HostBox has this as a lobby toggle if your table prefers it.