Press
Everything here is free to use and free to edit. If you need something that isn't on this page, ask — the reply comes from the person who wrote the app.
The facts
- Name
- Rachel: Tactical Card Game
- Developer
- Steve Hill
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad and Apple silicon Mac. One purchase.
- Price
- £2.99, paid once. No advertising, no tracking, no subscription, no in-app purchases
- Availability
- Rachel is on the App Store
- Contact
- rachel@stevehill.xyz
Boilerplate
One line
Rachel is a card game for iPhone, iPad and Apple silicon Mac where you try to get rid of your cards while your opponents give you more.
One paragraph
One card left? A Black Jack could change that. Rachel is a card game for iPhone, iPad and Apple silicon Mac where attacks stack, play reverses and the last player holding cards loses. Play solo offline against fourteen characters with their own table talk. Invite a Game Center friend over the internet, or bring 2–8 people together on the same local network. A guided tutorial teaches the special cards as you play. Buy once for the whole game, with no ads or in-app purchases.
The longer version
Rachel starts with a familiar idea: match the suit or rank and empty your hand. Special cards complicate matters. A 2 forces the next player to draw two cards, but another 2 passes the attack on as four. A Black Jack threatens five extra cards, and a Red Jack reduces that penalty. The last player still holding cards loses.
The iPhone, iPad and Apple silicon Mac app includes offline solo play at three difficulty levels, fourteen computer characters with table talk, Game Center invitations and local multiplayer for 2–8 people. A guided tutorial introduces the special cards. VoiceOver, adjustable text sizes and optional four-colour suits help players follow the action.
Saturday gives the table a Saturday-morning cartoon look: painted felt, drawn cards and light and dark appearances. Choose from seven table themes to make yourself comfortable. Game Center friends are selected right in the host lobby; disconnected guests can return to their reserved seat and hand while the host keeps the game open.
Steve Hill is also bringing Rachel to vintage computers. The VIC-20 version runs solo games without a server on a machine with an 8KB memory expansion. Its v1.0.0 release is verified in PAL and NTSC emulation; physical hardware testing is pending.
Vintage network play uses a published binary protocol. There is currently no public game server for these versions.
Images
These are the web-sized versions the site uses. Full-resolution screenshots for every device size are available on request — they run to about 50MB a set, which is why they aren't served from here.
Elsewhere
- The RUBP protocol specification — the wire format, published in full
- Ports — the vintage machines being written, and their source
- Privacy policy — crash reporting and how the app handles data