Rack Attack is a crossword-style word game for iPhone and iPad. Play the computer at five levels, share one device between two people, or play a friend over Game Center.
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How do I play? Tap a tile on your rack, then tap an empty square, or drag the tile to the board. Tap a placed tile to take it back. Press Play when the word is ready. Pinch to zoom the board and drag to move around it; double-tap zooms in and out. Everything can be done without dragging, and VoiceOver users have actions for selecting, placing and recalling.
What are “Assisted” and “Honor” word checking? Assisted: invalid words are rejected before you play. Honor: an invalid word loses your turn, with no hint beforehand. The choice is made when the game starts and cannot change during it.
Which word list does it use? ENABLE2K, a public-domain word list by Alan Beale and M. Cooper, plus a short list of additions. A word the app rejects may be valid in another word list.
What does Analyze show? After a turn of yours, Analyze shows your play next to the highest-scoring play that was available, and the difference in points. It counts immediate points only: a lower-scoring play can be the better choice for your later turns.
Can I look up a word’s definition, or see the short words? In an Assisted game, open the menu and choose “Words on the board” to look up a word, or press and hold a word on the board. Definitions come from the dictionary built into iOS, on your device. Analyze, the final board and a finished game’s detail offer the same lookup. If that dictionary has no entry for a word, tap “Search the web” to look the word up in your browser with your default search engine; only the word is sent, and only when you tap. In an Honor game, definitions wait until the game is over. The two- and three-letter word lists are on the home screen (the book button) and in the menu of an Assisted game, never in an Honor game.
Why does the computer wait before it moves? The computer decides at once but shows its move after a pause so that the game feels like playing a person. Leaving the app during the pause is safe.
How do I play a friend? Choose “Play a Friend” on the home screen, then Start. Both of you need to be signed in to Game Center on your devices. Friend games are invite-only: you choose your friend in Game Center’s own screen, and there is no matching with strangers. Who moves first is drawn at random. If it is you, your friend receives the invitation when you make your first move. Games continue whenever either of you opens the app; you do not both have to be playing at the same time, and Game Center sends a notification when it is your turn. Rack Attack does not ask for notification permission itself.
Play a Friend says I need to sign in. Open the Settings app, sign in to Game Center, then come back. If Game Center is restricted on your device, for example by Screen Time, Play a Friend is not available; Play vs Computer and Pass and Play still work.
My move did not seem to go through in a friend game. Reopen the game. The app checks again, and resends the move if it can. If the game changed while you were away, it says so and shows the game as it is now.
Can I use two Game Center accounts to try it alone? Play a Friend needs a second Game Center account signed in on another device.
Can I turn the sounds and vibrations off? Sound effects have a switch under Settings (and in the menu inside a game). They also follow your device’s silent switch. Vibration follows your device’s system haptics setting.
Where is my data, and how do I delete it? On your device, and, for friend games, in Game Center. See the privacy policy. Delete any game from “In progress” on the home screen (the app asks you to confirm), or delete the app. Deleting a Play vs Computer or Pass and Play game removes it. Deleting a friend game you have already sent a move in resigns it: your friend wins, the result stays in your History, and the game is removed from your home screen. A friend game whose first move you have not sent yet is simply discarded. Resigning does not erase the match from your Game Center account.
Which devices does it run on? iPhone and iPad with the supported version of iOS.
The current version is shown in the app under Settings, then About.