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Why I like Words With Friends
By Dave Winer on Friday, January 13, 2012 at 9:26 AM.

I've been playing WWF for about a year now, and it's still holding my interest.  #

I keep getting better. And each game is different. And each opponent is different too. #

A picture named wwf.gifMy friend Yvonne once suggested we play a different game, one where the goal was to maximize the sum of both our scores. I like that idea, but I've never actually played anyone with that goal.  #

Sometimes when playing against children or people who are obviously unschooled in the competitive aspects of WWF, I just put down moves that I find interesting, without worrying about how many points I score. But the thrill of a 100-plus point move is still the best feeling. I love watching the points rack up. And I dream of a word where a Q and a J both land on triple-letter and some other letter lands on triple-word. Let's see. That would be 30 plus 30 times 3. Pretty good move! #

In a recent game with a friend who I won't name or characterize (oh the politics of WWF!) I did a fanciful move that connected three parts of the board in what I thought was a clever way, but it didn't amount to a lot of points. I made a comment to that effect. He pointed out that I had a huge lead at the time, so my esprit de corps (or is it joie de vivre) was in question. So I made a point in the next game, when I was behind, to do something similar! Hah. That'll show him. (And he surely will read this blog post.) #

The odd thing is that I come from a family of Scrabble players, but I never liked Scrabble. I don't like having to be creative while other people are watching. And I'm very visual, apparently -- I need to be able to move the letters around on the board to see the move. In real-world Scrabble you'd never get away with that. Also I like that I can go away for a few hours and come back and look at the board again. That's how I find my best moves. In real-world Scrabble I'd often get stumped, and what do you do then? That's why I always declined an invite to play Scrabble. But I absolutely love WWF. #




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