Overall Objective
Players exchange turns forming words horizontally or vertically on the board, trying to score as many points as possible for each word.
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.
- Swap tiles: A player may user their turn to swap tile on their rack with new ones from the Tile Bag, however they will not be allowed to play any words on the board until their next turn
- Pass your turn: A player may pass their turn, but in doing so will not be allowed to play any words on the board until their next turn
- Resign: A player may resign anytime, but it counts as a loss.
- Blank Tiles can be used as a substitute for any letter, but they have no point value
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.
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.
Word List
English
Words With Friends has more than 173,000 acceptable English words for use in the game. Our game uses the Oxford English Dictionary as source of words and definitions.
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. 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.
Spanish
Words With Friends uses the Oxford Spanish word lists. It includes Castellano as well as other varieties of American Spanish.
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.
All diacritics are ignored but Ñ is accepted. K and W are absent and they cannot be used as blank tiles. There are no tiles containing LL, RR or CH letters. Two single letters will be used to represent them.
Italian
Words With Friends uses the Oxford Italian word lists.
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.
All diacritics are ignored. The letters J, K, W, X and Y are absent and cannot be used ingame, or replaced by a blank tile.
Portuguese
Words With Friends uses the Oxford Brazilian Portuguese word lists.
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.
While Ç is a separate tile, other diacritical marks are ignored. K, W and Y are absent and can not be used to replace blank tiles.
German
Words With Friends use Oxford German word lists.
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.
All diacritics, except umlauts (Ä, Ö and Ü), are ignored. Umlauts (Ä, Ö and Ü) are accepted and can not be substituted for correspondent ligatures (AE, OE or UE). Eszett (ß) is not accepted and is replaced by SS using 2 tiles.
French
Words With Friends use Oxford French word lists.
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.
All diacritics are ignored. Ligatures are represented with two letters: Œ becomes OE, and Æ becomes AE.
British English
Words With Friends use Oxford British English word lists.
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.
More Features
Dictionary : You can search the definition of an unfamiliar word (currently available for English only).
Hindsight: Hindsight shows the best possible word that you could have played. It helps you to improve your tile choice and word placement.
Word Strength: With Word strength, you can check if the word you form is valid in Words With Friends 2 and how strong it is.
Tile bag: Tile bag shows the letters that have not been distributed yet, including those in your opponent’s rack at the moment. It costs 5 coins and you can use it as many times as you want, but only during one turn.
