The iconic clacking sound of "fichas" echoes from Domino Park to living rooms across South Florida and beyond.

"I love it," said Elmis Marshall, lighting up with his words.

The Cuba native learned to play in his hometown of Las Tunas some 40 years ago, but now he spends most days playing in Little Havana.

"It's my hobby," he explained.

But the game carries more significance than just being a hobby.

"This is special because this is history, this is culture, and this is tradition." said University of Miami Cuba Studies professor, Andy Gomez.

Gomez preserved a set of dominoes that belonged to his father - dating back to 1958 - a year before the Cuban revolution. He remembers learning to play sitting on his father's lap.

"I now look back, and those were very special moments," he said.

Gomez recounts those moments, where older Cubans would reminisce, and younger ones would ask about the island nation's tumultuous history.

When Gomez plays with his grandsons, he's teaching them more than just a game.

"We have to make sure that at least our grandkids, our great-grandkids have some of that tradition, have some of that culture in their minds, for them not to lose it."

The game itself dates as far back as the 13th century in Chinese and Egyptian civilizations, although it is mostly a mystery how the game crossed the Atlantic to Latin America.

For Miami native Adriana Bagg, however, playing dominoes preserves a family tradition her grandparents brought from Havana.

The mother of NBC6 reporters Marissa and Julia Bagg, she is also known as the household domino shark.

"I like to play a friendly game," she said. "Who doesn't like to win?"

Dominoes is relatively simple to learn - you play by matching numbers end to end with the main objective being to be the first to get rid of all your dominoes.

"There's a strategy," said Bagg, but don't expect her to reveal it.