Words With Friends (from Zynga): a FAQ including letter values and distributions:

by Tobias D. Robison



 

A FAQ about the tablet game, Words with Friends, from Zynga.

By Tobias D. Robison



This is a Guide to playing Words with Friends (“WwF”) on the iPad and various phones and tablets. My advice is up to date, as of October 27, 2011. I hope my advice helps you to enjoy this lovely game. If you also like to read fantasy novels, please mine check out:

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If you’re familiar with Scrabble (“Scrb”), you may think you’re entirely ready to play Words with Friends (WwF). Well, you’re right, provided you’re alert to the differences between the two games.

The bonus squares are arranged differently in WwF. Those triple word squares are closer than the four far corners, easier to reach, and harder to defend against. If you like to play defensively, by limiting your opponents scoring opportunities, then this board layout will be a whole new challenge for you.

The bonus for a Bingo (playing all seven letters in one turn) is 35 in WwF, not 50. When you play a bingo, you usually give your opponent easy scoring opportunities, but the 50 point bonus in Scrb usually makes up for that. In WwF, the 35 point bonus makes it pretty easy for your opponent to respond with a competitive word. You will discover that many seven-letter words are not worth playing in WwF, defensively speaking.

In Scrb, I am always thinking about how to get the next bingo, and I manage my rack letters to maximize my bingo chances. In WwF, I do not go for bingos. Instead, I just try to find plays that keep useful letter combinations on my rack, so that I can make good use of the more common letters.

I think you will find that scoring is higher in WwF than in Scrb. That’s due to the different board layout, the extra tiles, and also the small differences in the scoring values for the letters. Here is the letter distribution in WwF, and the point values for each letter (please read on; there's more advice below the table);

TABLE OF LETTER VALUES AND NUMBER OF TILES

Value:

Letter:

How Many of this letter:

0

blank

2

1

A

9

4

B

2

4

C

2

2

D

5

1

E

13

4

F

2

3

G

3

3

H

4

1

I

8

10

J

1

5

K

1

2

L

4

4

M

2

2

N

5

1

O

8

4

P

2

10

Q

1

1

R

6

1

S

5

1

T

7

2

U

4

5

V

2

4

W

2

8

X

1

3

Y

2

10

Z

1



There are 104 tiles. Please note that there are five S’s in WwF, not four! J is worth 10 points, H is 3, V is 5....

On the web you can find all sorts of help to play WwF. Some of those aids, in my opinion, border on cheating and make the game less fun. You’re welcome to search for them, but here’s a handy piece of advice you can use instead:

If you are not sure that something is a word, play it! The game will advise you about all the combinations you try to make that are not words. There is no penalty for trying a non-word; you can just try again. And your opponent will not “see” the tiles you exposed by trying.

For example, suppose you say to yourself, “If ‘biv’ is a word, then I can empty my rack and make viggles.” Chances are, when you submit this play, WwF will tell you that both biv and viggles are not words. But if they are, that will be your play; you can’t retract it. (I haven’t tried those two words, myself).

You can always move letters out of your rack and try them out on the board, without penalty. And if you are having trouble finding good letter combinations in your rack, tap “shuffle”. The random rack rearrangement that the game gives you may inspire you; if not, shuffle again. There’s no loss of turn and no penalty for this. And you can also rearrange your rack letters manually. Just move them around.

Please email corrections, suggestions, and questions to tobyr21 at gmail.com. I think I have recorded the letter distributions correctly. And do enjoy the game!

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