The aim of the rack
One player takes solids, numbered 1–7; the other takes stripes, numbered 9–15. Clear your own group first, then legally pocket the eight ball on a later shot. You do not have to play your group in numerical order. Rackbi does not require called balls or pockets, including on the eight.
The break and choosing a group
The opening lag decides who chooses the first breaker. The winner of a rack breaks the next one. The table remains open immediately after the break. A later legal shot establishes the groups using the first group contacted and the balls pocketed; the game asks for a choice when the relevant mixed-group case occurs.
An eight on the break is handled through a separate choice rather than an automatic ordinary win. Break fouls and an insufficient break also have their own choices. Read the prompt before accepting the layout or choosing a rerack.
Fouls and the eight ball
- Ordinary fouls, including a cue-ball scratch, generally give the opponent ball in hand across the table.
- The first object ball contacted must be a legal target. After contact, a ball must be pocketed or a ball must reach a cushion, subject to the frozen-ball rule.
- Pocketing the eight before your group was cleared on a previous shot loses the rack. Pocketing it with a foul, or sending it off the table, also loses the rack outside the special break procedure.
- A ball already frozen to a cushion must leave and return to satisfy that cushion contact, unless another qualifying cushion contact or pot occurs.
Read the table, then the prompt
Ball placement behind the head string has additional restrictions. The optional clock allows 45 seconds for a normal shot and 30 for the break, with one 30-second extension per player per rack outside the break. Practice mode does not enforce match rules or the shot clock.
This guide describes the game, not every provision of a real tournament. Physical push shots, double hits and player contact with balls are outside the simulation. Use the original JOY document for event rules, and the in-game ruling for the state of your current rack.