Words with Friends is one of the finest social games you can find today. Just don’t make the mistake of calling it scrabble, although it may seem a little similar. In fact, almost everything in the game is similar, other than the technological aspects.
One of the good points about the game is that it was made for two person play. Why would this be a good point in a socializing game? The time limit for each player to make a move is 7 days. Imagine how many weeks you would need to wait if there were 4 or more players.
If you’re playing with a friend, then you can agree in advance how much time each of you has to make a move. In Words with Friends, you can play with almost anybody who has the application in their iPhone or iPod Touch. In fact, you can play 20 games simultaneously.
You don’t have to worry about you or your opponent forgetting about the game because the game has push notifications to inform you that it’s your turn. If you have 20 games going on, you’ll probably be getting these notifications pretty often.
Gameplay
If you’re familiar with the board game scrabble, then you can probably work out how this game goes. You are presented with a board to place your tiles on. There are spaces on the board that are marked “double letter”, “double word”, “triple letter”, and “triple word”.
Each of the tiles has the corresponding point value on the upper right hand corner. Letters in the English alphabet that are commonly used in words have the lowest point value, which is one. The less a letter is used, the higher the point value is. Letter like Z and Q have 10 points because there aren’t that many words in the dictionary that uses them.
You start off with seven tiles. There are also wild characters, or wild tiles that you can substitute for any letter to form a word. The objective is to form a word with the highest point value. If you place a Z (10 points) on a “triple letter” tile on the board then you already get 30 points plus the rest of the letters. If you place a Z on a “triple word” tile then the Z and all of the letters in the word are multiplied by three.
Each time you make a move, the number of tiles that you place on the board to form a word, are replaced until all of the tiles run out. When there are no more tiles to be drawn and no more words can be formed with the tiles you or your opponent has left, then the iPhone game ends and the player with the most points win.
If you are able to use-up all of your tiles, then you get an additional 30 points plus the total point value of the unused tiles your opponent has.
The game isn’t “socializing” if players can’t communicate with one another, so a chat feature lets you discuss anything you want with your friend. Just be careful in urging your opponent to make a move because you might end up winning the game…. after 7 days.
If you like playing with a lot of different people but you only have a limited number of friends who have the application on their mobile devices, then you can connect with Facebook to find other people to play with.
The app also has a feature where it can find other players for you, instead of you having to find them on your own. It may take a few minutes or more before the app finds another player and sometimes it won’t be able to find any at all. Making friends with your opponents is a good way to ensure that you never run out of opponents.
Both you and your opponent can look up all the resources you can find to search for a suitable word for your tiles. In Words with Friends, this isn’t cheating. Here you’re not expected to have an above average IQ or know every word in the dictionary.
Making friends and socializing while playing a familiar game is what Words with Friends is all about. There is no time limit (other than the 7 days), so you can take as much time as you like chatting with your friends or getting to know new ones.
User Interface
The interface is pretty simple and straight forward. You just drag the tiles you want to play and place them at the areas of the board you want to play them. Once you have all of the tiles positioned correctly, tap on the “Play” button and you wait for your opponent to make a move.
The app automatically zooms the portion of the board you are playing so you can find it easier to place your tiles. Placing the tiles on the board may take a little while to get used to.
Graphics and Sound Effects
The graphics are pretty clear for a board game. How much clearer can a board game get? The good thing about the graphics in Words with Friends is that it makes the game a bit more interesting so that it doesn’t bore you.
The sound effects may get a little tiring and if you want to spend time on the game thinking of your next move, you may want to turn the volume down a little.
The Drawback
Much of bugs in earlier versions have been fixed. The only drawback is that you can’t play the game on your own or have an electronic opponent. You will need to find someone to play with, but that’s the whole point in socializing.
Conclusion
Words with Friends is a nice game to play and a good way to get to know someone. It is definitely not for people who enjoy fast game play because it can take days before your opponent decides to make a move. If you don’t like waiting for so long, then you can start multiple games.
Words With Friends
Category: Games
Price: $2.99
Developed By: Zynga
Requirements: Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Compatible With: iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
Other OS: Android, Facebook, BlackBerry
Our Rating: 
About Aurora Freegard
