Word rules for words with friends

The Official Rules

1. Overall Objective

Players exchange turns forming words horizontally or vertically on the board, trying to score as many points as possible for each word.

2. Tile Placement

• The first word must be placed so that 1 of the tiles is on the star in the center of the board.

• Every word following that must be placed so that at least 1 tile is shared from an existing word on the board.

• Tiles can only be placed in the same line vertically or horizontally each turn.

• Tiles can be placed so that multiple new words are formed simultaneously using neighboring letters.

• Words cannot be placed if they create an illegal word using neighboring letters.

• All words labeled as a part of speech (including those listed of foreign origin, and as archaic, obsolete, colloquial, slang, etc.) are permitted with the exception of the following: proper nouns (words always capitalized), abbreviations, prefixes and suffixes standing alone or words requiring a hyphen or an apostrophe.

3. Scoring

• Double the value of any tiles that were played this turn on a DL space, and triple the value of any tile that was played on a TL space this turn. Do not double the value of tiles on DL and TL spaces for tiles that were played on previous rounds.

• Add up the values of all letters in the word, even if some were played on a previous turn.

• Double the value of the word if any tiles this turn were played on a DW space (and double it again in the case were 2 DW spaces were played upon). Triple the value of the word if any tiles this turn were played on a TW space (and triple it again if 2 TW spaces were used). Do not multiply words if tiles on DW or TW spaces were used from a previous turn.

• It is possible to create multiple words with the same play. In this case, score each new word separately, including bonuses, and sum all of the new words together.

• Words cannot be placed if they create an illegal word using neighboring letters.

• 35 bonus points are awarded whenever a player uses all 7 tiles on their rack in a single turn.

4. End Game

• The game ends when one player plays every tile in his rack, and there are no tiles remaining to draw from. The game could also end if three successive turns have occurred with no scoring and as long as the score is not zero-zero.

• After the last tile is played, the opposing player will lose points equal to the sum of the value of his remaining tiles. This amount is then awarded to the player who placed the last tile.

5. Dictionary

Words With Friends has more than 173,000 acceptable words for use in the game. Our list is based on the Enhanced North American Benchmark Lexicon (ENABLE), a public domain list used by many word games.

Tap here to visit the site where the original ENABLE list resides.

We’ve added a few of our own words to game such as ‘zen’ and ‘texting,’ and more words may be added in the future.

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

Your buddies are begging you to play, but you don’t know the first thing about the laws of Words For Friends. Not to think about it. It’s easy to learn how to play Words With Friends when you start with the basics. At the heart of the game is to take letter tiles, rearrange them into words, and score more points than your rival. You’re bound to get addicted once you start playing!

Words with Friends is well-known for its success as a word game. But many players don’t know that Words with Friends is also a strategy game. Winning Words with Friends includes optimizing the use of bonus multipliers, as well as careful preparation to hold tiles that allow you to score consistently. Some Terms with Friends strategy that can help players to better their game:

The key aspects of the game you need to talk about are:

The game board: there are 225 spaces on the grid of 15 x 15. Play letter tiles horizontally or vertically to render words.

Letter rack: With each turn, you keep seven letter tiles on your rack. For eg, when you play three letter tiles in a turn, you’ll automatically get three new letter tiles from the tile bag for your next turn.

Tile Sack: The game has a total of 104 letter tiles. Each player starts with seven, loading the rack out of the bag until it’s empty.

The game stops when the tile bag is empty and one player uses all their letters. The game can even end when the players “pass” three times in a row.

Moves in Words With Colleagues

The aim of Words With Friends is to shape words that use letters in your letter rack, plus letters that are already on the game board. Words must be at least two letters long.

The first word played must include the center space, labelled with the “plus” symbol. This first term has a double-word ranking.

After that, any word must be linked to at least one of the letters already on the board.

Words with Friends Rules

The rules for Words With Friends score are exactly the same as they are for Scrabble.

Values of the letter

Every letter in Words With Friends has a point value assigned to it. Popular characters, such as T and E, are worth less points. More difficult letters, such as X and Q, are worth more points. The value of the point is seen on the tile itself.

Take, for example, the word CARD. Adding the tile values will be worth 8 points.

Uh, C (4 points)

A (1 point)

R: R (1 point)

D. D (2 points)

Bonus space

In addition to the face value of the letter tiles, you can gain more points by playing bonus space terms. Four styles of Words With Friends bonus room.

DL (double letter): doubles the size of the single letter tile.

TL (triple letter): triple the value of the single letter tile.

DW (double word): doubles the score for the whole word.

TW (Triple Word): triples the score to the whole word.

You will combine bonus space for even more points. Using the same CARD example, if the C is in the TL space and the D is in the TW space, you can measure the score as follows:

C (4 x 3 = 12 points)

A (1 point)

R: R (1 point)

Bingo bonus

If you play all seven tiles on your letter rack in one turn, you receive an additional 35 points. This is on top of any extra bonus space points you receive.

Multiple words

One of the most precious Words With Friends rules to remember is that you get credit for every word you make. If, for example, in forming a word horizontally, tiles also shape another word vertically, you get points for both words. Using hooks is one of the most effective tactics to succeed.

For eg, say that CARD is already a horizontal word on the board. You add the “S” at the end of it, plus-UNNY below the S. You’re winning points from both CARDS and SUNNY.

CARDS (4 + 1 + 2 + 1) = 9 points

SUNNY (1 + 2 + 2 + 3) = 10 points

9 + 10 = 19 points

If the “S” tile happens to be in DW space, both CARDS and SUNNY will receive a double word bonus.

CARDS (9 x 2) = 18 points

SUNNY (10 x 2) = 20 points

18 + 20 = 38 points

The Final Movement

The game stops when one player uses all their letter tiles and there are no more letters remaining in the tile bag. At that time, you add the value of all the letters left on the rack of the second player. This value is deducted from the score of the second player and added to the score of the first player. The winner is the player with the highest final score.

Power-ups and other movements

Beyond the main gameplay, you can further boost your odds of winning by using one of four power-ups. You can make these power-ups by playing, or you can buy them in the game. Words With Friends Power-ups are similar to those in Scrabble GO, but they are different as well.

Hindsight: Use after a transfer to see what better term you might play instead.

Word Radar: Show the spaces on the board where you can play a word.

Swap+: Swap letter tiles without missing a turn.

Word Clue: Indicates a particular location where you can play a high-scoring word.

Although you have a limited number of power-ups, you can use all of these four options at any time. They’re a frequent part of the game.

Shuffle: rearrange the letter tiles in a random order on your shelf (do not lose a turn).

Swap: swap one or more letter tiles for new ones in the tile bag (lose a turn).

Pass: Please miss your turn and let your opponent play their turn.

Resign: Voluntarily forfeit the game.

Now that you know the fundamentals of the rules of Words With Friends, you’re able to launch yourself into the ring and challenge your friends to a game.

What are the rules for Words With Friends?

Words With Friends 2 Rule bookThe first word must be placed so that 1 of the tiles is on the star in the center of the board.Every word following that must be placed so that at least 1 tile is shared from an existing word on the board.Tiles can only be placed in the same line vertically or horizontally each turn.

What is a bonus tile in Words With Friends?

Bonus Tile – A Bonus Tile is a letter tile with additional special effects. Some of them are earned by making words, and others are available with gold. The 1st effect is used in a word which triples the value or the word, and clears all tile in the same row/column.

What word has AJ in the middle?

Scrabble Guru4-Letter Words. ajar. ajee. baju. djin. dojo. fuji. gajo. gjus. haji. hajj. juju. koji. mojo. puja. raja. roji. sijo. sjoe. soja.5-Letter Words. ajiva. ajuga. ajwan. bajan. bajra. bajri. bajus. banjo. bhaji. bijou. bunje. bunjy. cajon. cajun. djinn. djins. dojos. eejit. eject. enjoy. fjeld. fjord. fujis. gadje. gadjo. gajos. ganja. gauje. hadji. hajes. hajis. hajji.

What is a four letter word ending in J?

4-letter words that end in jhadj.hajj.munj.cluj.bmsj.gorj.rasj.mtpj.

What does mocking mean?

transitive verb. 1 : to treat with contempt or ridicule : deride he has been mocked as a mama’s boy— C. P. Pierce. 2 : to disappoint the hopes of for any government to mock men’s hopes with mere words and promises and gestures— D. D. Eisenhower.

What is jazzy short for?

My name is Jazzy and it’s short for Jazmine.

Is Jazzy a name?

Jazzy as a girl’s name is of American origin.

Your Ultimate Guide to Winning at Words With Friends

Thanks for taking the time to check out my Words With Friends Tips and Strategy page. As you can see, I’m a geek in many ways, not just photography. I started playing Words With Friends on my iPhone about a year ago, and I’ve been addicted ever since. In the time I’ve been playing Words With Friends, I’ve developed a few strategies of my own to share with you here today.

What is Words With Friends?

Words With Friends is a crossword game made for mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Android), and is based on the popular board game Scrabble. The basic directions can be found HERE. There are a few key differences between Words With Friends and Scrabble that I’d like to point out. It’s important to recognize these differences because you might be able to use them to your advantage. 

1. You are not playing face to face with your opponents. You could plausibly be playing against someone on the other side of the world!
2. A game is not completed in one sitting. It can last hours, days, weeks, or even months.

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1.  There are no challenges. When you are playing a word, you can use trial and error as many times as you need, until you find a word that works.
2.  The tile distribution and count is slightly different. See the chart below:

1.  While both boards are 15×15 squares, the layout is a bit different, as shown in the images below:

Wording With Friends – Ground Rules

Keeping a 2-Letter Word List

Because of some of the new dynamics mentioned above, the friends that I play with regularly and I have agreed to a few rule clarifications for ease of play. First, we are allowed to keep a list of all 2 letter words. Since we are able to use trial and error to find words, it saves a ton of time to know what all the two-letter words are. If you use a list long enough, you will probably end up memorizing it anyway.

Sometimes the makers of Words with Friends add and delete words from its dictionary. Click over to my article 2 Letter Words For Scrabble and Words With Friends to view an updated (2020) list of two-letter words.

Keeping Track of Missing Tiles

Second, we have deemed it acceptable to keep track of the missing tiles if we like – much like counting cards in Blackjack. We figure that since there can be a relatively large amount of time between turns, why not use the time to keep track of what tiles have and have not been played yet. None of us ever really do this early in a game, or even in the middle. But as the game is nearing the end and it looks like it could be particularly close, we will definitely do it. I’m not sure if there is a rule that addresses this in regular Scrabble, but we’ve made it clear that it’s ok here. I put together a spreadsheet that takes care of this for me. Click the link below and you can use it too! You will need at least Microsoft Excel 97 to use the spreadsheet.

Handy Dandy Words With Friends Letter Counter (clicking this link will download a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet)

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It’s a good thing to agree on a few ground rules with the friends you play with regularly. In my group of friends, we have deemed it acceptable to keep the two-letter word list and keep track of tiles if we want, but NOT acceptable to use Words With Friends cheats, word generators or any other word lists, which are readily available online. If you and your friends agree that it’s ok to use word generators, my favorite one is wineverygame.com. I’m sure there are plenty of other good ones.

As I said before, in the time that I’ve been playing, I’ve developed some of my own Words With Friends tips and strategy that I will share with you here. Hopefully it will give you an edge against your opponents as well.

Lay *Along* Beats Lay Across

Let’s say your opponent plays AROSE. You have letters in your tray that spell “POWER”. You could use the “O” in AROSE and lay the P, W, E and R downward across it, for a cool 11 points…OR…you could you could lay POWER along the top of AROSE to create multiple new words (POWER, PA, OR, WO, ES, and RE) for a total of 26 points!

Start Small

It never fails, you play a 5 letter word to start the game, and your experienced opponent puts a nice lay-along next to it, effectively scoring double for his word and single for YOUR word too. When I start a game, I like to start with a 2 letter word, and use that turn to dump my two least desirable letters. Let your opponent be the first to open the board up.

Work the Colored Squares

The best way to maximize the value of your tiles is to play them on the colored squares. On the board, you can find Double Letter (DL), Double Word (DW), Triple Letter (TL), and Triple Word (TW). I like to call the TL and TW the “High-Dollar” Squares. Always look for the accessibility of these squares on the board – even before you examine your tray. Look for plays using these squares and try to work your letters to fit those plays. Even better, try and find plays that combine multiple letter scores with multiple word scores. Let’s say you play the word PARK on 4 Blank squares. You will score 11 points. Now let’s say you play where the “P” is on a TL and the “K” is on a TW. The score for this play will jump all the way up to 57 points!

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Look for Vowels Next to Colored Squares.

Let’s say your opponent plays PLANE, and there is a TL directly above the “A”. You notice this, then upon examining your tray you notice that you have a “Z”. Remembering from the 2 letter word list that ZA is a valid word, you know you can play the “Z” on the TL, to create ZA for a total score of 31 points. Now you take it one step further and notice that you also have an “E” and an “N” in your tray. Now you can play ZEN in a lay-along above PLANE, creating ZA, ZEN, EN and NE, for a total of 70 points!

Bingo Was His Name-O

When you play all 7 tiles in your tray in one turn, it’s called a “Bingo.” Not only do you get the points for the word(s) you made, but you also get a 35 point bonus! If you can mix that with a few colored squares in the right places, then it’s not out of the question to score in the 100’s on one single play! One of the keys to winning games consistently is learning how to make Bingos. It takes a bit of practice, but the more you play, the more you will develop strategies that will help you create more and more Bingos. When I first started playing, I was lucky to average one Bingo for every 10 games played. Now I’d say I average about 9 Bingos for every 10 games, and I’m continuing to improve. Read on for some of my strategies for creating Bingos.

Defense Wins Games

Just as you will be looking for plays around the High-Dollar squares, your experienced opponent will be doing the same. Don’t give him the opening, even if it means you have to play a lesser word elsewhere. Unless I know I’m going to score big with my play, I generally try to avoid opening the TW TL areas for play. Even a 40 point play might not be worth opening up one of those areas, knowing that he could potentially score 50 or even more points by taking full advantage of the opening.

S’s are Precious. And so are BLANKs

The “S” and the BLANK are important tiles in the game. The “S” is important because it can be played at the end of so many words. If you have a word in your tray that contains an “S”, then you can place it at the end of a word that is already on the board, and play the remaining tiles for your word around it. Let’s say your opponent played COFFEE. In your tray you notice the word VEST. You could play VEST across one of the E’s in COFFEE, for a total of 8 points. I consider this to be wasting your S. If you look closer, you could put the S at the end of COFFEE and play the V, E and T around it, and score 24 points, with COFFEES and VEST! Mix in a few colored squares and you can easily clear 30 points.

Many people like to employ this strategy with the “Y” as well. I personally find that there aren’t nearly as many opportunities to use the “Y” in this way as there are for the “S”, so I generally treat the “Y” as just another letter. The BLANKS can work in the same way. Not only can you use them as an “S” to connect two words, but you can also use them as the missing link for a word you are working on in your tray. I’d say the BLANK is responsible for about 50% of all the Bingos I make. As a general rule of thumb, I try not to use an S or a BLANK unless they are directly responsible for scoring at least 30 points for me.

Swapping Tiles: All or Nothing

Swapping tiles is an art. Generally speaking, I swap tiles when there are no plays that I can make that will get me more than 15 or so points, and the letters in my tray don’t figure to offer any more help in the near future. Never try to swap tiles in order to create a word that you are trying to formulate in your tray. That will only lead to heartache, trust me. When I need to swap, I like to swap ALL 7 tiles, with a few exceptions: I never swap out the following letters:

S: See above
BLANK: See above
J, Q, X, and Z: these tiles are crucial in determining the winner. Never give them up if you have them. Giving them up gives your opponent a chance to use them with the colored squares for maximum value. I’d rather play one of those tiles on a blank square just to get rid of it before I see my opponent take advantage of it on the High-Dollar squares.
“ER” or “ED”: I’m a big fan of ER and ED. These combinations are very versatile in that they can be attached to the beginning or end of many 5 letter words, to make a Bingo. I would say that those two combinations are responsible for helping me with the other 50% of my Bingos.

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Keep The Letters Moving

A high tile turnover rate is good for your tray. It increases the chance of getting J, Q, X and Z, and decreases your opponent’s chance of getting them and using them against you. If all other variables are equal (points, leave, etc.), play the bigger word over the smaller word if you have a choice.

Saving Letters Is Dangerous

It’s generally not a good idea to save letters while you wait on other letters to show up for a word. I’m not going to lie and say that I’ve never done it, but I do try and keep it at a minimum. Sometimes it is just too tempting. Obviously you have the best chances of a good score when you have all seven letters to choose from on each turn. For each letter that you hold back, you are potentially limiting your score for that play. If you do choose to save letters, try and keep it at a minimum, and if the letters you need don’t show up within 2 or 3 turns, cut your losses and stop waiting.

Further Reading on 2-Letter Words

It’s important to know the two-letter words because they can be used in a pinch, or as a connector to a much larger word. For reference, I’ve written an article that I like to call The Ultimate 2 Letter Words List 🙂 (updated in 2020).

Conclusion

Hopefully you found these Words With Friends tips useful. I’ll continue to make additions/changes to this document as my strategy and skill level evolves. Let me know if you disagree with anything I said, or if you find any errors.

Good Luck, and Happy Wording!

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