Mobile game developer Zynga announced today that the newest iteration of its infamous word game, [Words With Friends 2], has officially been released globally. It offers multiple fun new ways to challenge your friends and yourself without straying too far from the format that made Words with Friends a staple.
Bernard Kim, President of Publishing at Zynga, touched on the company's dedication to pleasing its millions-strong fanbase in a statement:
As one of Zynga's most popular and iconic forever franchises, Words With Friends continues to connect millions of people around the world every day through a shared love of social wordplay. Words With Friends 2 honors the rich pop-culture legacy and beloved social gameplay of Words With Friends, while introducing innovative features in the largest refresh in the game's eight-year history. We're proud to bring our loyal fans a brand-new experience that's inspired by all the ways they want to play … Words With Friends 2 gives players more opportunities to master their favorite word game than ever before.
If you've never played Words With Friends, it's basically exactly like Scrabble — you and your competitor take turns positioning letter tiles on a virtual game board, spelling words in a crossword fashion. Each letter tile is worth a certain number of points, and there are also spaces on the board that can increase a word's point value. The classic version of Words With Friends offered only two play modes — a normal mode, where you played against an opponent, and a Solo Play mode, where you played against the game's AI in order to hone your skills. Words With Friends 2 has upgraded that experience with the following additions:
- Solo Challenge mode: Essentially a new and improved version of Solo Play, Solo Challenge allows users to practice playing the game by pitting them against AI-powered WordMaster bots. In this mode, players will advance through a series of increasingly difficult matches, challenging them to push their strategic skills in order to improve.
- Lightning Round mode: In the Lightning Round mode — the first Words With Friends mode to allow users to play against more than one person at a time — players will join teams of five to compete in intense, rapid-fire matches where speed is key.
- Updated boosts: Boosts have been a thing in Zynga's games (like Word Streak with Friends for some time, but like Solo Challenge mode, they're getting an upgrade in the new flagship title. Boosts are a bit like hints, and give players advantages that help them both increase their scores and improve their strategic skills for future games. For instance, with the boost "Word Radar," players can preview all possible placements for a certain letter tile.
- Social Dictionary: Zynga has added more than 50,000 new words to Words With Friends 2's in-game dictionary, and have also enhanced it with in-depth stats that let players see how they match up against others re: amount of new words played.
In addition to all of those new functions, Words With Friends 2 also received a visual update, and is more minimalist and clean than its predecessor while still maintaining the important parts of the gaming interface users love.
If you'd like to upgrade to Words With Friends 2 from the original but fear that your current games and stats won't carry over, Zynga assures that all your data including your friends, your winning streak, and more will remain intact when you make the switch. If you've never played Words With Friends before, this shiny new release is a great place to start.
- Words With Friends 2 - Free - Download now
Questions?
What do you think about Words With Friends 2? Do you prefer it over the classic version? Give us a shout in the comments!
