Simple Strategies for Words with Friends

Words With Friends is a popular iPhone application that is very similar to Scrabble but is played only between two iPhones. The best way to improve your Words With Friends score is to practice a few basic principles of strategy.

Shuffle Your Tiles

Never leave your tiles in the same order. Experimenting with different letter combinations will allow you to see word combinations or the potential for other words that you may not see with your tiles in a static order. Giving your iPhone a shake will shuffle your tiles for you.

Create Parallel Words

Whenever you can, try to make new words parallel to the ones already existing on the board. This way, you not only get points for your own new word but also for the two letter words formed by connecting the two words.

"Hook" onto existing words

Hook one or two letters to an existing word to increase your score. For example, adding an A to WHILE or a G to HOST allows you to add the points from the old word to the score for your new word.

Don't Waste S or Y Tiles

Hold on to your S and Y tiles so you can use them to "hook" onto to the end of an existing word on the board and then build another word down or up off that S.

Know When to Swap Tiles

If your rack is full of vowels or a combination of letters that you not be able use to make a high scoring word in the next couple of moves, swap out your tiles to get a more usable rack of letters.

Finishing Strong: Knowing Two Letter Words

One of the best ways to maximize your in Words With Friends is to know as many two letter words as you can, especially words using high value letters including Q, Z, X, and J. Knowing these two letter words also allows you to place the high value letters on triple word and triple letter spaces. QI, ZA, XI, XU, JO, AX, EX, and OX and their plurals (include the letter S) are all accepted by Words With Friends. For a complete list of two letter words (about 130 in all) consult a Scrabble Dictionary.

Finally, Don't Cheat

Any internet search will help you find a series of Scrabble cheat sites, which are just as applicable to Words With Friends. While you can use these sites to plug in you letters and find all of the possible combinations of words, your friends will know in a few moves that you are cheating since GJTOST, HAFIZ, and OTARINE have never been a part of your vocabulary. Remember, the name of the game is Words With Friends, and the friends part of the title is just as important to the game as the words part, so play smart and have fun.