Rack analysis
How TileTactician ranks plays, calculates scores, and handles special tiles.
How scoring works
TileTactician calculates scores using standard Scrabble rules:
- Base tile values — each letter carries its standard point value (A=1, B=3, C=3, D=2, E=1, F=4, G=2, H=4, I=1, J=8, K=5, L=1, M=3, N=1, O=1, P=3, Q=10, R=1, S=1, T=1, U=1, V=4, W=4, X=8, Y=4, Z=10).
- Letter premiums — double-letter and triple-letter squares multiply the tile value before summing.
- Word premiums — double-word and triple-word squares multiply the entire word score. Multiple word premiums stack multiplicatively.
- Cross-words — any perpendicular words formed by the placement are scored and added to the total.
- Bingo bonus — playing all seven rack tiles in one turn adds 50 bonus points.
Play ranking
Results are sorted by total score, highest first. When two plays score identically, the solver breaks ties by:
- Fewer tiles used (preserves rack flexibility)
- Alphabetical word order (deterministic output)
Rack management
The rack bar shows your current tiles. You can:
- Add tiles — tap the
+button and select letters - Remove tiles — tap a tile in the rack to return it
- Set blanks — long-press a tile to toggle it as a blank wildcard
Performance
The solver is optimized for real-time analysis:
| Board state | Typical time (Apple Silicon) |
|---|---|
| Empty board, 7 tiles | < 200 ms |
| Mid-game board, 7 tiles | < 500 ms |
| All-duplicate rack (e.g., 7×E) | < 50 ms |
Results stream incrementally — the best play appears before the full search completes.
Dictionary
TileTactician uses the official tournament word list. The dictionary is embedded in the app and does not require a network connection.