Fri 10 Jun 2011
App Reviews and News
Words with Friends - App Review
Why is it so popular?
Don’t be fooled by the unfamiliar name of the game though. If you’ve played Scrabble, then you’ll know exactly what to expect with this word game. It’s identical to the classic board game for all intents and purposes, save for a different distribution of the point tiles (which we’ll get to in a bit).
Okay, so why is a Scrabble clone so popular?
The first thing working in Words with Friends’ favor is that games are played in a turn-based fashion. This means you aren’t forced to play a match through to the end in one sitting, but can have multiple games on the go (up to 20) against players from around the world. You’ll be notified when it’s your turn to move in a match.
The game works like this: you start with 7 tiles from which you need to make words. After the first word has been placed, all subsequent words must work off of existing words, using at least one of their letters.
Also, the words must make sense in every direction, so if you’re trying to make a word one way, but it comes in contact with other letters in a different direction and doesn’t make a legitimate word in that direction, your plan is thwarted. If you can pull off words in both directions, your score will naturally be much higher.
How can I get a really huge score??
Scattered across the board are tiles that confer bonuses, such as TL (triple letter) or DW (double word). Having your letters placed on these tiles gives you bonus points for the letter or entire word which was placed on those tiles.
This makes the games as much about board management as it is about figuring out the best words to play. You don’t want to leave those juicy tiles open for your opponent after you play a word. This is part of what gives the game its broad appeal.
The only things I’d like to see added to the game are some sort of ranking system, along with more detailed stat tracking. You can only get information for your last few games, which is unfortunate.
The game can also experience some slowdown at times, which really should not be an issue for a relatively simple game such as this. These additions and fixes would make Words with Friends the perfect word game on the go.
Platform – iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad (iOS 3.0 or later).
Genre – Word Game
Price - $1.99
Rating – 4.6/5
Don’t be fooled by the unfamiliar name of the game though. If you’ve played Scrabble, then you’ll know exactly what to expect with this word game. It’s identical to the classic board game for all intents and purposes, save for a different distribution of the point tiles (which we’ll get to in a bit).
Okay, so why is a Scrabble clone so popular?
The first thing working in Words with Friends’ favor is that games are played in a turn-based fashion. This means you aren’t forced to play a match through to the end in one sitting, but can have multiple games on the go (up to 20) against players from around the world. You’ll be notified when it’s your turn to move in a match.
The game works like this: you start with 7 tiles from which you need to make words. After the first word has been placed, all subsequent words must work off of existing words, using at least one of their letters.
Also, the words must make sense in every direction, so if you’re trying to make a word one way, but it comes in contact with other letters in a different direction and doesn’t make a legitimate word in that direction, your plan is thwarted. If you can pull off words in both directions, your score will naturally be much higher.
How can I get a really huge score??
Scattered across the board are tiles that confer bonuses, such as TL (triple letter) or DW (double word). Having your letters placed on these tiles gives you bonus points for the letter or entire word which was placed on those tiles.
This makes the games as much about board management as it is about figuring out the best words to play. You don’t want to leave those juicy tiles open for your opponent after you play a word. This is part of what gives the game its broad appeal.
The only things I’d like to see added to the game are some sort of ranking system, along with more detailed stat tracking. You can only get information for your last few games, which is unfortunate.
The game can also experience some slowdown at times, which really should not be an issue for a relatively simple game such as this. These additions and fixes would make Words with Friends the perfect word game on the go.
Platform – iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad (iOS 3.0 or later).
Genre – Word Game
Price - $1.99
Rating – 4.6/5
