Words With Friends - Rules & Tips

Words with Friends is a popular online game by Zynga similar to scrabble. What sets this game apart is in its title: you can play with your friends or other word game enthusiasts all over the world. This provides endless entertainment because you can have up to 30 games going at once. You’ll never run out of live opponents which keeps your puzzle-solving skills sharp.

The Basic Rules of the Game

There are some subtle differences between Words with Friends and Scrabble, but the rules are generally the same. Let’s talk about some of the main rules of Word With Friends to help you get started.

• 1. The first word is made by the challenger or the person who starts the game.
• 2. The first word is started on the + symbol in the center of the board.
• 3. Words can only be played horizontally and vertically.
• 4. All new words must connect to existing words on the board, just like scrabble.

Another fun aspect of Words with Friends is that you can chat with your opponent while playing the game. This is an enjoyable way to pass time with friends or even make new friends that were once random opponents.

The best way to improve at a game is with practice and time, but there are some tips and tricks to give you an edge when playing Words with Friends.

Learn the Board, Especially the Bonus Tiles

Strategy is everything in Words with Friends. When you place a word for your move, you should be thinking ahead about what opportunities you’re giving your opponent. For example, if you place the word POST horizontally on the board, you’re giving your opponent an open S and T to build many longer words than they would’ve with other letters. If there is a lot of space above your POST on the board, your opponent can make a plural form of just about any word, and they’re more likely to get a bonus tile alone the way.

If you’re familiar with chess, you’ll understand the requirement to think ahead and try and “read your opponent’s mind” to win the game. Every move you make whilst playing Words with Friends should be well thought out. Always be a few steps ahead of your challenger!

Pay Attention to Your Word Placement on the Board

Going off the previous tip, remember that there should be intention behind every move you make in a game of Words With Friends. If you’ve followed our first tip, you’ll have a good understanding of where the bonus tiles are on the board. Every time you make a move, consider what opportunities you’re giving your opponent. Is there a Triple Word tile next to an easy letter like S? Notice how all the triple letter tiles are on the outer edges of the board. When you’ve reached that part of the game, opportunities for long words are less, so be aware of giving your opponent an opportunity to form a 2 or 3 letter word with a triple word tile. Instead, place a more difficult letter to form a short word with, such as J.

Use Hooks to Score Big

What are hooks? Hooks are the technique of adding one or two letters onto a preexisting word on the board to form a new word. You can do this by changing the tense of a word or making it plural. If you have the letters ED, ET, ES, or just S, take note. You can use those letters to make a hook. If the original word you hook off of has high scoring letters in it, you’ll get the points from those with just a few letters!

Play Words Towards the Center, Not the Edges

When I first discovered this tip, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. If you look at an empty Words With Friends board, you’ll notice that the bonus tiles are in a diamond shape and move out along the edges of the board. The biggest bonus tiles like the triple word tile are on the very outer edge of the board. Every time it’s your turn, see if you can play your word towards the center. When you move out to the edges, you’re giving your opponent way more opportunities to score big on bonus tiles.

The other benefit of playing towards the center is making it harder to form large words. You will set your opponent up to have less space to form words, especially long words, without running into a preexisting word on the board.

Use Your Powerups!

This seems obvious, but I’m prone to forgetting the powerups exist. Powerups are the bonus tools of Words With Friends that you use your coins to purchase. The powerups are Hindsight, Word Radar, Swap+, and Get Word Clue. Let’s explain what they mean!

Hindsight: If you’ve ever felt like your move could’ve been better, this is the powerup for you. This tool allows you to see what the best move could’ve been on your last turn. This is a great way to learn and improve at the game.

Word Radar: If you use this before your turn, it will show you the space where the longest word can be played. It’s your job to figure out which letters to use in that space!

Swap+: Use this powerup to swap all your tiles with new ones.

Get Word Clue: This clue will tell you which letters to use and which space to put them in. All you need to do is unjumble the letters to get the best possible word for your turn.

Study Up on Words

If you read a lot or have a large vocabulary, it may give you an edge in the game. To really excel at Words With Friends, you will need more than that! You will need to study and memorize words that will specifically help you in this game. At most, you’ll only have 7 letters to use each turn, which means any words longer than that aren’t of much use to you in this game.

You’re better off studying shorter words that use the higher scoring letters. How many three-letter words with the letter J do you know? What about two-letter words with the letter V? Begin memorizing some words that will help you out when playing Words With Friends. Check out these Word List where you get the curated list of words. You may even benefit from jotting them down in a little journal when you’re out and about. Those words might help you win a game one day!

We hope that these tips and tricks will help you on your journey to being a great Words With Friends player! Practice makes perfect, so the more you play, the better you’ll get. With these tips and some time, you’ll be on your way to being a champion.

Words With Friends Solver Word List