Words With Friends Rules — Complete Game Guide
Words With Friends is one of the most popular mobile word games in the world. While it is similar to Scrabble, it has its own rules, board layout, tile distribution, and dictionary. This complete guide covers everything you need to know to play Words With Friends confidently and competitively.
How Words With Friends Differs From Scrabble
Board: The WWF board is 15×15 but premium squares are in different positions.
Dictionary: WWF uses its own word list, not the official Scrabble dictionary.
Tile values: Point values for some letters differ from Scrabble.
Tile distribution: The number of each letter tile differs.
Platform: WWF is primarily a mobile app with async play — you take turns on your own schedule.
Swap+: WWF has a Swap+ feature that lets you swap tiles and still score points.
Words With Friends Board and Premium Squares
The WWF board uses the same color-coding concept as Scrabble but in different positions: Triple Word Score (TWS) triples the entire word score, Double Word Score (DWS) doubles the entire word score, Triple Letter Score (TLS) triples the value of a single letter, and Double Letter Score (DLS) doubles the value of a single letter. Understanding premium square positioning on the WWF board specifically is important for competitive play.
Words With Friends Scoring
Scoring in Words With Friends works similarly to Scrabble: sum the tile values of all letters in your word, apply letter multipliers first, then word multipliers. Using all 7 tiles earns a 35-point bonus in WWF (compared to 50 in Scrabble).
Words With Friends Dictionary
WWF uses its own proprietary dictionary. Not all Scrabble words are valid in WWF and vice versa. When in doubt, use our Word Finder with the Words With Friends dictionary selected to verify any word before playing it.