Chicken Foot Dominoes: Rules & Scoring
Chicken Foot is a fast, social domino game named for the three-pronged "foot" shape players build off each double. Like most domino games, it's scored by counting the pips left in your hand — and the lowest score wins.
Setup
Use a double-nine set for up to 7 players (a double-twelve set for larger groups). Shuffle the tiles face down into the "chicken yard," and each player draws a hand (commonly 7 tiles). The remaining tiles form the boneyard for drawing.
Gameplay & the chicken foot rule
Each round starts with the highest double, which is placed in the center. Play proceeds around the table, matching tile ends. The signature rule: whenever a double is played, the next three tiles must branch off it, forming a chicken foot. Until that foot is complete, every player must either add to the foot or draw a tile and pass.
A round ends when a player plays their last tile, or when the game is blocked and no one can move.
How scoring works
When the round ends, each player totals the pips on the tiles still in their hand and adds that to their cumulative score. The player who went out scores 0. Play a fixed number of rounds (often double-nine down to double-blank), and the lowest total score wins.
| Situation | Score added |
|---|---|
| Played your last tile | 0 |
| Tiles left in hand | Sum of all pips |
| Double-blank left over | 0 (house rules vary) |
Stop adding pips by hand
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- How many tiles do you start with in Chicken Foot?
- Commonly 7, though some groups deal more depending on player count and set size.
- Does the highest or lowest score win?
- Lowest — you're counting the pips you're left holding, so fewer is better.