“Cheating” is such a strong word. Cheating suggests you’re doing something others can’t do to get an unfair advantage. Do I use help when playing Words with Friends? Yes, yes I do. Am I cheating? No, and here’s why.
First off, everyone can do it! There’s nothing stopping anyone from using a word finding app to help play Words with Friends, so I’m not doing anything others can’t just as easily do. In fact, at risk of upsetting some folks, I’m gonna wager that a few of my opponents have looked up a few words every now and then as well…but obviously I can’t prove it, and frankly, they can’t prove I’m getting help either. I’m stepping up and admitting it and I make no apologies.
Scrabble is about words. Words with Friends is not.
Leveling the playing field
However, the reason I use an app to generate possible words is because it makes the game far more interesting and challenging. Without the help the game is about vocabulary. The person that knows more words has a distinct advantage to those with smaller brains (like me) that can’t come up with any words with more than three syllables. By eliminating the frustration of find words you can focus on actual game strategy and word placement.
When I play Words with Friends I pay attention to the board. I have to think about where I’m going to place a word…what bonuses I’ll get, and more so, what bonuses am I opening up for my opponent. Just because my app gives me a 15-point word doesn’t mean it’s in my best interest to use it. If my super word leaves a row open for you to pick up the triple word bonus, you better believe I’m not going to lay down that word. I compare Words with Friends more to Tetris than Scrabble. I’m given a somewhat random sized block and I have to find the best place to put it.
An unlimited vocabulary
You’ll also discover that a word finder will create a much more interesting game because you’ll more frequently come up with words that are more than four or five letters long. How many times do your Scrabble games putter out because no one can come up with any long words and you paint yourself into a corner? That’s no fun and there’s no sense of accomplishment. Successfully placing a lengthy word in Words with Friends is far more rewarding.
I’ve also found that using the word finder has improved my vocabulary and I’m becoming less dependent on it. I’m able to see patterns for words that I never picked up on before because they’re just not normal words. I would also argue that it requires more time and effort to use a helper app to play than not. It’ll be my turn and I’ll easily spend 10 minutes going through word choices and placement options. The board is now a tactical battlefield, not just a grid of squares where I lay down random letters in hopes they spell something.
Napoleon would have played this way
Advanced technology does not guarantee success
I also don’t consider any of this cheating because it doesn’t guarantee success. I’ve lost many matches even with the help. Fact of the matter is, if you get crappy letters it doesn’t matter how much help you have. You can only do so much with four A’s, a Q, L, and T. And even with good letters, if the board doesn’t favor your move then you won’t get any points anyway.
So I’ll submit to you that you should use help when playing Words with Friends. It’s quick, it’s easy and I think you’ll find the game will be more fun and more rewarding. And go ahead and tell your opponents you’re using help…and tell them to use help too. With both of you having an equal and expansive vocabulary the challenge becomes one of out-witting your friend, not just besting them at a spelling bee. If you’re looking for a good Words with Friends challenge and can accept the fact that I use a dictionary while I play, send your attacks to morningtoast and we’ll see who plays the board better.
Sounds like cheating to me. Maybe if you’re both doing it then it’s not cheating.
It just depends on what type of challenge you’re looking for. I think more people should try playing with a helper and see what they think. It’s easy to say “that’s not how you play the game” but that’s assuming everyone wants to play the same way.
I feel that this type of “help” adversely changes the skill:luck ratio of these games. You should probably at least be transparent with your opponent about whether or not you agree to use these tools. I feel like there’s a certain expectation of etiquette there.
How do you feel about the word finders where it actually tells you both the best words -and- the best places to put them? That removes even more skill. The only skill left is deciding which one to use. Removing enough skill leaves you in the realm of boring deterministic board games like War and Candy Land.
Personally, I enjoy the vocab aspects of Scrabble/WWF. It all comes down to personal preference. But if I didn’t like, say, gold farming in an MMO, I wouldn’t use a hack to give myself a bunch of gold and say it’s fair because everyone has access to the same hacks. I’d just play a different type of game.
(Also, if you play Scrabble, the Teacher tells you the best word you could’ve played after the fact, and serves the same purpose of enhancing your vocab, without compromising gameplay.)
I didn’t even know there were helpers that told you position! I agree, that sounds like no fun whatsoever. My helper just tells me all possible words based on the letters I give it, I have to decide where to put them. I don’t want something telling me strategy, I’m just not interested in testing my vocab skills.
Point taken with the MMO comparison…it is all about what type of game you want to play and the challenge you’re after. The luck aspect never goes away, however, because you never have control over the letters you get. The best help in the world doesn’t make up for crappy letters. I’ve gotten my ass kicked in WWF many times.
I don’t mind being transparent about it either, although I don’t know how to tell people in-game. Of course, I guess I always figure people know when I lay down a word like “ZAGEMON” or something because nobody knows these type of words naturally.
This made me laugh. It’s definitely cheating unless you tell your opponent you’re using help beforehand. Your justifications don’t make any sense, they just sound like petty excuses…
I wouldn’t call them petty excuses. They’re not really excuses because they’re all true, but I agree that if I go back to playing WWF that I need to disclaim my uses of helpers. I’ve given up though since I’m seemingly not the only one using helpers. It’s no fun for me either if it’s not a fair fight.
But I think the real solution is to just make a game that is exactly how I’m playing. The game would have the helper built in, thus the only thing you need to do is pick the one you want. Make it a game of word placement, not word building.
Scrabble is about word placement. I knew a girl whose mom played in Scrabble championships and she said exactly the same things you just said about WWF. That she would never open a triple word score for someone and would purposefully play for less points if it meant not giving her opponent any sort of advantage.
I suppose it’s like house rules in a game of pool… you agree to a level playing field, a certain set of rules. One can’t play slop while the other plays no-slop. Only with Words with Friends — who’s the Home team?
I suppose I don’t object to a word finding app. What I do object to is the “Best Word” button on some scrabble apps that allows the technology to choose the best word on the board. That is cheatin’.
Unless you’re both doing it, of course.