Lately I seem to be playing more Facebook games than “real” games, but if it’s a game and I’m playing it, doesn’t that, by definition, make it real? I suppose hardcore gamers would disagree, but essentially, a game’s a game.
One of the games currently nibbling away at my free time is Words With Friends from Zynga. (Pausing here to go check my games and see if it’s my turn ...). Blast it! Nothing! Apparently when one is a night owl, one shouldn’t expect one’s friends to have responded by first thing the next morning.
Essentially you and one other friend are playing virtual Scrabble. Each of you starts with a slate of seven letters, and the person that initiates the game gets to play the first word. You can swap out dud tiles for new letters if you’re really desperate, but it costs you a turn. Each letter has a given value — the tougher letters have higher point values, of course. They even have wild card tiles — it can be any letter you want, but it’s worth no points.
The board has lots of goodies on it. There are squares for double or triple letter points and even double or triple word points.
At the top of the board, you’ll see the current score and how many letters remain in the virtual stack. Until these letters run out, your set of seven tiles gets replenished each time you use any of them. When that stack runs out, it gets ugly. You try making a word with QIJD. Not fun.
I love this game. I love word games in general, and I really enjoy that this one can be stretched out however long it takes. I also love that you can have as many individual games going at once as your little heart desires. You don’t need good twitch reflexes for this one — just good brain reflexes. I do strongly recommend playing with a dictionary at hand — a virtual dictionary specific to Scrabble is great.
You do have to watch a short ad (just a few seconds) between turns, but to me, it’s totally worth it. I like the game, and I recognize that something has to pay the bills.
If you like word games, and you dabble on Facebook, I would definitely recommend you give this one a try. Words With Friends is also available for mobile devices.
I’m a working mom — married with one child. My daughter is 10, and she has autism. Everything else in my life moves around this core. Online gaming has been a big part of my social life over the last several years due to the difficulty of going out and about. I have to say that my daughter Alissa is awesome at computer games. She has skills with electronics that amaze me. When I get away from the computer, I like doing craft projects (knitting, crocheting, sewing, painting, quilling, whatever sounds fun) and reading. I mainly read suspense these days, but I have a pretty eclectic collection and a library of about 6,000 books. I’ve been using a computer since grade school — I started with an Apple IIe and have upgraded considerably and many times since then. I played Dungeons and Dragons for at least a few decades. I met and married my husband through gaming. He was my DM. I stopped tabletop gaming more from lack of time than anything. It’s easier to meet and game with friends online than it is to coordinate real-life schedules around my daughter’s needs.
