How to play Words With Friends

How is Words With Friends played?

Two players share a board, and each holds a rack of 7 letter tiles. Turns go back and forth, and because the app keeps the game, a turn can wait minutes or days. This guide describes the usual game; versions of the app can add modes, events and helpers that change the details.

On each turn you place tiles in one row or column, joined to the words already on the board. Every line of touching letters must be a word the app accepts. The first word covers the star in the centre.

What can you do on your turn?

• Play a word. The app checks every word you form and refuses a play that makes an unknown word, so you can try again.
• Swap tiles. Trade some or all of your tiles for new ones from the bag. The swap uses your turn.
• Pass. Skip your turn without playing.
• Resign. End the game early; it counts as a loss.

After a play, the app refills your rack to 7 tiles while tiles remain in the bag.

How do you score in Words With Friends?

A word scores the sum of its letter values, and each tile shows its value. The values are not the same as in Scrabble: several letters are worth more or less, so read the number on the tile instead of relying on Scrabble values. A blank tile is worth 0 points.

Bonus squares raise the score. Double-letter (DL) and triple-letter (TL) squares multiply the tile placed on them; double-word (DW) and triple-word (TW) squares multiply the whole word. They are laid out differently from a Scrabble board, and a bonus counts only on the turn a tile is first placed on it.

Using all 7 tiles from your rack in one turn earns a bonus of 35 points on top of the word score.

The game ends when a player uses their last tile and the bag is empty, or after a run of scoreless turns. The tiles left on the other player's rack are subtracted from their score and added to the score of the player who went out.

How is Words With Friends different from Scrabble?

What are good Words With Friends tips?

• Learn short words. Two- and three-letter words let you play beside other words and score in both directions. See the two-letter words.
• Aim for the bonus squares. A high-value letter on a triple-letter square, or a word across a triple-word square, often beats a longer word elsewhere.
• Play parallel words. Laying a word alongside another makes several short words at once, and each of them scores.
• Use all 7 tiles when you can. The 35-point bonus is worth looking for, especially with common endings such as -ING, -ED and -ER.
• Keep your rack balanced. Swap when you hold too many vowels or too many hard consonants.
• Mind what you open. A word that leaves a triple-word square free can hand your opponent a big score.