So you’re just starting off on the Words With Friends journey and are looking for some helpful tips to become a better player and outmatch your opponents.
Well, the first step to achieving positive outcomes is to develop your Words With Friends strategy. This includes understanding how TO (and how to NOT) envision the board and tiles.
This article walks through the appropriate way to approach the game. In particular, we’ll cover the top two mistakes you should NEVER make, why they’re so costly, and solutions to prevent you from falling into these same traps.
Now let’s jump right into those two most common bad practices and how you can avoid them to improve your Words With Friends strategy and consistently beat your competition.
WWF Mistake #1: Focusing on All 225 Spaces
If you’re looking at a standard WWF board, you may notice the color tiles mirror each other. You may also notice there are 15 rows and 15 columns for a total of 225 spaces.
But not all 225 spaces on the Words With Friends board are made equally.
There are double word spaces, triple word spaces, and so forth. So when envisioning the WWF board, you shouldn’t think about it in terms of 225 spaces.
Solution: Instead of focusing on all 225 spaces, you should imagine it as only 52 spaces.
Why? Because 80% of the game revolves around 52 spaces.
Just about all words are played in response to game situations and game restraints based on the 52 Words With Friends tiles below.
So, in essence, the outcome of the game depends on how Words With Friends score these 52 spaces.
WWF Mistake #2: Leaving TW and TL Combos Open
The winner and loser(s) of WWF doesn’t just depend on the 52 spaces (discussed above) in general. But rather, it all comes down to snagging triple word spaces in conjunction with triple letter spaces.
When you play a tile in a green triple letter (TL) space, then you get three times the value of that tile. When you play a tile in the orange triple word (TW) space, then you get three times the value of that word.
But watch what happens when you play both spaces together…
The game calculates that score by first taking three times the value of whatever is in your triple letter space. Then it adds up the value of the rest of the spaces and multiples that amount by three to give you the score for that combo play.
But far too often, players (especially beginners) leave these combination plays open for their opponents to take advantage of.
Solution: Try to grab both the TW and TL spaces at the same time. This should be your ultimate Words With Friends strategy.
Because of the Words With Friends rules and scoring methodology, covering these combo plays will result in you earning really high scores really quickly.
Ultimate Words With Friends Strategy – Examples
Let’s say you played the word QUIZ with the Q covering the orange TW space and the Z covering the green TL space.
You’d get ten points for the Q, two points for the U, one point for the I, and ten points X 3 for the Z. If you then add up all four of those values and multiply that sum by three (for the TW bonus), you’d end up getting 129 points for the word QUIZ.
Now against the very “bottom” tier of players in random WWF matches, scoring 129 points in a single turn is more than many folks score in the entire game.
So taking advantage of the TL and TW combination as your ultimate Words With Friends strategy can be the real difference-maker in the game.
Of course, the word QUIZ is a rare example. But there are more common or “mundane” examples in which you can score a ton of points for not doing anything particularly amazing.
Take, for example, the word MUNDANE. If you play the M on the green TL space (as shown below), the first N would also fall on a TL space and the second N would fall on the orange TW space.
Situating the word MUNDANE on the board so that the letters cover both a TW and TL space at the same time would earn you a whopping 78 points.
You could also play smaller, simpler words such as PATH in a similar manner. If you play PATH so the letter P falls on a green TL space and the H lands on the orange TW space, you’d score a total of 51 points pretty easily.
As you can see, these TW and TL combinations are really what determine who wins and who loses a game.
So when you’re playing a game of WWF, do NOT leave these bonus TW and TL spaces open. Your opponent can really punish you for doing so.
Lessons Learned
Based on the two most common mistakes and solutions covered in this article, here are a couple of takeaways you should keep in mind when developing your Words With Friends strategy:
- Winning WWF comes down to making use of 52 spaces rather than 225.
- Avoid the silly mistake of leaving the TW and TL combo plays open for your competitors.
- When you see that the TW and TL combo spaces are available, take advantage of them ASAP.
If you need additional help developing your Words With Friends strategy or are stuck in your game, check out this Words With Friends Cheat app. This word game helper provides Words With Friends tips and identifies words you can play that’ll earn you the maximum points.
Cheers!
