Made-Up Words With Friends
The shortcomings of an iPhone app for a competitive player.
Made-Up Words With Friends
I have a beef to pick with both the people who created the online version and the people who play the online versions of Scrabble and Words With Friends. It’s too easy/tempting to cheat.
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I am a bad loser.
Ask my kids. I never once “let them win” at anything. There are no trophies for second place at our game table. Competition at the Brint House is fast, fierce and for real. Trash talking is just part of the game. You want to play blackjack? Put your money on the table. Up for a game of Scrabble? Get out the timer and the Official Scrabble Dictionary. Monopoly? You better know the rules, because if you land on “Income Tax” you are forbidden to tally your assets before deciding whether to pay 10 percent or $200. It’s by the book.
Being a gaming gal, I have recently found myself slightly addicted to game apps on my iPhone. It’s a problem. Words With Friends (WWF) has a stranglehold on my life. And I know I am not alone. In fact, I have made a game of guessing the number of monthly WWF players each morning when I first log on. It’s like watching the number of people served on the old McDonald’s signs. Currently, the WWF total is 16,700,000. Like McDonald’s, I think they will soon have to resort to “billions and billions play.”
But I have a beef to pick with both the people who created the online version and the people who play the online versions of Scrabble and Words With Friends. It’s too easy/tempting to cheat. I’m not talking about walking over to the old Webster’s Dictionary gathering dust in your den. I’m talking about randomly plugging in letters to see if they make real words. And many times they do. To prove my point, I have included a list of words that were recently played and accepted as “real” in the games I have in progress now. They include: parrying, wends, bene, qat, dealates, alevin, noh, drail, hie, xis, dex, leno, yeti, jin and trooz. Go ahead, look them up. I’ll wait.
Players often appear to be superstars, brilliant, real Mensa material online, but I wonder how they would fare in an old fashioned face-to-face game. One where the rules are easy to follow; you put down a word and the opponent either accepts it or challenges it. No guessing, no looking up the word before playing your turn, no cheating, no nonsense. I’m not suggesting the player must know the definition of the word he or she plays (although that would be nice), but knowing the spelling and that it is a bona fide word is a must.
In the spirit of true gaming as it was meant to be, the Brint Family spent many hours this winter break playing Scrabble and Cribbage. It pains me to report that for the first time, my 14-year-old son beat me at Scrabble. He was my last hope. The two older children had already learned to beat me at Cribbage and tennis, so I hung my hat on the fact that I could still beat number three at Scrabble. Those days are over. It’s time to adopt a new child, one young enough so that I can kick butt in Candyland.
As for the three kids I already have? The day they beat me is the day I remove them from my will.
Like I said, I like to win.
I.M. Weasel
7:25 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
Wends, parry, yeti, xis, qat......you really didn't know the definitions of these words......and you admit it?????
Betsy Brint
7:57 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
Yesterday one friend played "alkyd" and another played "pothered." Sure, I've heard of or seen many of the words mentioned in the article - but would you really come up with them on your own without a dictionary or online tool? If so, you must be smarter than I.
Jen
8:57 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
It's crazy. There are websites for cheating for scrabble and WWF. And most any game app. There is even a cheat site for solving words for the hanging with friends app (hangman). I have used all of these at times but not much anymore it's no fun. Can tell when someone appears to be cheating on scrabble and WWF by the words they are playing. It can be pretty obvious. What have we come to. I mean you can even go on YouTube to see videos of how to beat angry birds!
I.M. Weasel
10:38 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
Of course you would. Everyone knows that if you have either a Q or an X, you need to look for an open I. If you have a Z, look for and A. Unless, of course, you have a Z and an X in which case you try to combine them to use the word ZAX.
Post your screen name and we will see what happens mano a mano without the use of cheater apps.
Sally Higginson
10:48 am on Saturday, January 14, 2012
If everyone has access to the cheater apps, and everyone plays in the privacy of, well, private, then isn't the playing field level?
I.M. Weasel
12:18 pm on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Not even close. At that point it is simply a game of chance.
Ang
12:34 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
WWF uses the equivanent of the international scrabble dictionary. If you play in person, and agree on the 4th edition scrabble dictionary, you have to know what is legal for gameplay. Zen is not scrabble legal, nor is da or di.
Maybe the children of the article's author actually know the 101 two letter words, and 3 and 4 letter words that use the j,k,q,z, and x. That's the key to winning game.
Betsy Brint
1:04 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
The kids have those memorized!
I.M. Weasel
12:36 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
Why would you want to use a cheater app anyway?
Mike Gaffeney
10:09 pm on Saturday, January 14, 2012
these days if you wanna survive Words With Friends, you gotta use Anagrammer
Betsy Brint
5:31 pm on Sunday, January 15, 2012
Words with Friends is now up to 17,000,000 monthly users - the biggest jump in numbers yet. Wow.
Charlie
8:04 pm on Sunday, January 15, 2012
Lexulous is a better word game knockoff, and for some reason (perhaps it's the 8 letter rack) is a lot more fun to play. I still have mid-1950s Scrabble game in the brown box that my parents purchased with (warped) board, wood racks, and wood-grained letter tiles. It was a near impossible challenge to beat mom, but those wood letters had textures and knots which made the Q, Z, and X easy to spot. I learned cut throat. The Webster was in the next room and only came to the table for a challenge, then went back to its place. The playing field was level, never take the Q until you have the U. qi, xi, and qat weren't words in those days. I don't care if the opponent cheats, I'll win anyway most of the time.
Mary Georger
10:21 am on Monday, January 16, 2012
I am the editor of an app review website, The Recapp (www.therecapp.com), and we recently reviewed five word game apps for Words With Friends fanatics. Yes, SCRABBLE is on the list, and so is Descrambler, an app that actually "assists" you in finding word matches. In other words, it's a cheater app! I agree with you, Betsy and Sal, that playing old-fashioned word games isn't like it used to be!
I'd love for you to stop by and check out our article on The Recapp! We also reviewed each of the apps individually.
http://www.therecapp.com/app_living/scenario/5_iphone_apps_for_words_with_friends_addicts/
Best,
Mary Georger
Editor, The Recapp
www.therecapp.com
www.twitter.com/therecapp
Eric
1:05 pm on Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Here - see if you can get away with some of these words in Scrabble: http://daisybrain.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/words-that-should-be/
Karen
11:19 am on Thursday, January 19, 2012
I agree completely, Betsy! My 11 year old son has beat me several times by plugging in letters to come up with words. Annoying! I am somewhat addicted to WWF myself and I do not cheat! But really, how can you call yourself an old fashioned Scrabble player if you didn't know about QAT????
Betsy Brint
11:54 am on Thursday, January 19, 2012
OK - so in my defense I have used and know "of" several of the words. But the definitions??? Here is the definition for qat... did you all really know that?
Qat may refer to:
Qat (deity), of Oceania or Melanesia
Qat, or Khat, a tropical evergreen plant whose leaves are used as a stimulant
Charlie
11:51 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
Well...actually yes. Qat came to our attention in a big way when the US was in Somalia a few years back, where a majority of the populace is addicted to chewing it.
I.M. Weasel
12:17 pm on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Yes Betsy, lots of us really do know the definition of Kat, Qi, Xi, Za, Alkyd, Zax, Jo, and many other obscure words. I must admit though, pothered was not in my vocabulary until I read it in your blog. It is now though and I will never be shy about using it.
One positive thing I can say about playing against cheaters is that it has greatly increased my vocabulary and as a result, my average game scores have increased by nearly 15 points.
What do you say Betsy, are you up to a challenge?
Betsy Brint
10:12 pm on Thursday, January 19, 2012
Not sure I am at your level - but happy to give it a try. What is your WWF name? Or your real name???
Casey Cora
12:40 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
My friend likes to argue that WWF is "a completely different game" than Scrabble, one that requires "a different strategy." I suppose if two people want to square off by plugging in random letters, then, hey, go ahead. That's the game, I guess.
But I've quit playing entirely, specifically for that reason.
Charlie
11:55 pm on Friday, January 20, 2012
I can't say the strategy is different from Scrabble. It's about determining the best opening on the game board to score the most points and building words there to do that...or prevent your opponent from doing so.
Betsy Brint
6:11 am on Saturday, January 21, 2012
Quick update on the total number of monthly Words With Friends users. In the one week since this article was posted, the number has jumped 1,100,000 from 16,700,000 to 17,800,000.
words with friends help
6:10 am on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
"WORDS WITH FRIENDS" That game is trending and is very popular nowadays. Its a way of spending your time with your family especially your having a luck of time in spending with them.Its really a good game,it can broaden your knowledge and you will really learn some words that you haven't encountered.