Words with Friends

Use Word Radars to Score Big in Words with Friends

These powerups can help you find the best move

One of the most infamous changes Zynga ever made to Words with Friends was adding the “Word Radar” powerup, which lets you see where on the board you can place potential words using your current rack. It helps less-experienced players compete against the elite and enables those with a full arsenal of powerups to crush their powerup-less opponents without remorse.

As a self-proclaimed Scrabble nerd, I can’t help but hate and love this feature at the same time.

It’s a great learning tool for players new to competitive word games, and it helps those already proficient at the game sharpen their skills. However, many players prefer the classic gameplay style, so using a Word Radar is cheating to them. Add to that “Word Strength” and the “Swap+” powerup, and Words with Friends may not seem fair at all.

I believe that when you start a game with a friend, a random user, or even just the AI, you should be able to choose between classic gameplay and the version with all of these in-game superpowers. When the other person accepts the challenge, they would see right away what type of game it is and what to expect.