How to play WordRise

Words read across (left to right) or down (top to bottom), like a crossword. Every word your tiles make must be in the word list.

Your turn: tap a tile in your rack, then tap a square or a stack on the board. Put all of this turn's tiles in one row or one column, with no gaps. Tap one of your new tiles (gold) to take it back. Press SUBMIT when you're done.

Connecting: the first word must cover at least one of the four gold center squares. After that, every play must join tiles already on the board, either next to them or stacked on top of them.

Stacking: put a letter on top of a letter on the board to change a word into a new word. One tile per stack each turn. A letter can't go on top of the same letter. No stack can be more than 5 tiles high. You can't cover every letter of a word in one turn.

Plurals: you can't make a word plural just by adding an S to its end, unless that S also makes another word.

The Qu tile is one tile. Words with a Q must use it, so Q words without a U (like QAT) can't be played.

Scoring: a flat word (no stacked tiles in it) scores 2 points per tile. A word with any stacked tiles scores 1 point for every tile in it, including the tiles underneath. The Qu tile in a flat word adds 2 points. Using all 7 tiles in one turn adds 20 points. Every word your tiles make or change scores.

Instead of playing you may EXCHANGE one tile for one from the bag, or PASS.

Who goes first: each player draws a tile. The letter nearest to A goes first.

The end: once the bag is empty, the game ends when a player uses their last tile, or when everyone passes in a row. Each player then loses 5 points for every tile left in their rack. The game also ends if nobody plays a word for three full rounds (this last rule is WordRise's own, so the game can't run forever).

The board: drag to turn and tilt it, pinch or scroll to zoom. TOP VIEW looks straight down. Small gold dots on a tile show how tall its stack is. Green tiles are the last word played.

The Oracle checks every play your tiles can make, on empty squares and on top of stacks, and ranks them by points this turn. Tap a play to see it on the board as purple ghost tiles. Double-tap it, or its ghost tiles, to place it. You still press SUBMIT.