In a totally transparent bit of SEO, allow me to link here to my wife's new business, My Wonder Booth, offering exciting and fun photo booth rental in the Rochester, NY area. I figure with all the spam I get in the comments of this single post, it must have a high enough PageRank to be a worthy target for SEO, hahaha... Let's hope this boosts us in the results! (My blog, my right to self-spam it...)
Note: In the comments, a lot of people have expressed anger or bewilderment that Zyngo can "get away" with such a close copy of Scrabble. It's actually not surprising at all, and probably not much cause for anger, either. I have written a post examining those issues here
I tried to search online to find a clear, concise, and complete list of the rule differences between Words with Friends and Scrabble, but to my surprise, I couldn't find one. There are lots of off-hand mentions, but no concise and complete lists.So, I will attempt to compile one here. This will be an evergreen post, updated with any corrections or clarifications I come up with later. Without further ado:
- The boards are the same size, but the layout is completely different, as pictured at the bottom of this post.
- Scrabble contains only 12 triple-letter spaces, while Words with Friends has 16. Scrabble has 17 double-word spaces (including the opening square) while Words with Friends has only 12. (Both have 24 double-letter spaces and 8 triple-word spaces)
- As previously mentioned, the opening move in Scrabble is always a double-word score, while that is not the case for Words with Friends. (However, if you can find a 5-letter-or-longer word, you can always reach a double-word square from the opening square)
- English language Scrabble contains 100 tiles, while Words with Friends uses 104.
- The letter frequencies are slightly different (as they would have to be if the tile count is different). The only significant deviation is that there are twice as many H's in Words with Friends (4 vs. 2). The complete list of differences is given in the table below.
- The letter point values are slightly different. In every case except for H and Y (both 4 points in Scrabble and 3 points in Words with Friends), the point values are the same or higher in Words with Friends. The primary change is that most of the 3-point words in Scrabble are 4 points in Words with Friends. Notably, L, N, and U are only 1 point in Scrabble but are 2 points in Words with Friends. The complete list of differences is given in the table below.
- A Bingo in Scrabble is worth 50 points, but only 35 in Words with Friends (since just about everyone in Words with Friends uses computer assistance, this is probably a useful rebalancing of the game)
- I have been told there are non-trivial differences in the dictionary of allowable words.
One notable difference with strategic and tactical implications is that AHI is allowable in Words with Friends.This may turn out to be confusion over some of the words added in TWL06; AHI and DIF are two words that are accepted by Words with Friends but which many on-line Scrabble word lists don't include because they have not been updated with the latest changes. I've also been told that Words with Friends tends not to accept profanity, while of course that is perfectly acceptable in Scrabble, but I have not yet verified this. I am attempting to collect a list, and any help is appreciated. (Update: Commenter HFMadison reports that Words with Friends does not except FAG. I will attempt to verify this as soon as I can.) (Update: I just opened a game with SHIT -- which aptly described my tiles, by the way -- so at least some profanity is acceptable. My opponent responded by extending it to SHITHEAD. "This is going to be the best game ever" was his comment.)
| Letter | Scrabble points | Scrabble frequency | WWF points | WWF frequency |
| A | 1 | 9 | 1 | 9 |
| B | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| C | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| D | 2 | 4 | 2 | 5 |
| E | 1 | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| F | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| G | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| H | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| I | 1 | 9 | 1 | 8 |
| J | 8 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| K | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| L | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| M | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| N | 1 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| O | 1 | 8 | 1 | 8 |
| P | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Q | 10 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| R | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| S | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| T | 1 | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| U | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| V | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| W | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| X | 8 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Y | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Z | 10 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Blank | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | N/A | 100 | N/A | 104 |
Words with Friends on the left, Scrabble on the right. Just to make things confusing, I guess. Click to enlarge.
0 comments:
Post a Comment