When we’re playing Words with Friends, we all know the best strategy is to play aggressively. But what if you want to win every time? What if winning isn’t your goal?
A lot of people think that a “nice word” or a “funny word” is better than an aggressive word, but it really doesn’t matter how much fun you have winning. If you play aggressively and lose, you’ll still feel like you lost.
Winning is about taking care of yourself emotionally. It’s not about who wins, though; it’s about how you feel after losing. Playing aggressively can be exhausting because when you lose, you feel like you’ve let down everyone around you. When you play nice, it feels good to take care of others, but you don’t get the satisfaction of beating them at a game they aren’t even playing!
So the next time you play Words with Friends, try these three strategies and see how they affect your feelings. You might be surprised by the results when you visit the site for tips!
1. Play Aggressively Sometimes
If you’re having trouble keeping up with your friends, there are some other things you can do besides trying to win every game, like making sure you keep up with the conversation and getting out of your own head for a while.
The worst thing you can do when you’re in Words with Friends is sit back and get into your own head. The longer you stay there, the more frustrated you’ll become, and the more likely you are to make mistakes. Instead, use that time to catch up with your friends. Ask questions about their lives. Try to figure out why they chose the words they did on the board.
You’ll find that once you start talking to someone, it becomes easier to play aggressively. Your mind will wander, and you won’t notice the clock ticking away. Suddenly, you realize that the game has been over for five minutes, and you’ve played four games without noticing!
Then, when you do go back to the table, you can actually beat the person sitting across from you again. If you’ve been playing nice, you may not have noticed that you’ve already lost the first two games!
2. Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously
If you’re having trouble staying focused, you might need to relax and stop worrying so much about whether you’re going to win or not.
It’s easy to get caught up in the fact that you’re playing against two other people instead of one. Even if you’re playing well, you can still take yourself too seriously. This is especially true if you’re playing against an opponent who seems to be just a little bit better than you are.
That’s OK! Everyone starts off as beginners, and no one ever plays Words with Friends perfectly. So relax, enjoy the game, and try not to worry so much about how many points you’re scoring (or not). You’ll only end up stressing yourself out unnecessarily.
In addition to being concerned with how many points you score, you might also be worried about which words go together with each other. For example, maybe you really like the words “dice” and “lobster,” but you’re afraid that by putting them together, you’ll look silly.
Don’t worry about it. Just pick whatever sounds funny to you. Who cares if it sounds stupid? In fact, it probably will sound stupid! That’s part of what makes this game fun!
3. Remember How Much Fun You Have
Sometimes, you can forget how much fun you’re having while you’re playing Words with Friends. It happens to me sometimes, and I always regret it when I remember how much fun I had during those moments!
You need to remind yourself that you’re having fun. So when you’re feeling frustrated and anxious, take a moment to remember how much fun you’re having right now.
For example, if you’re playing a friend, ask her how she feels about the game. Is she having fun? Does she feel like she’s having any success? Maybe she’s just starting out, but she’s having fun! And if she says yes, you should tell her that you’re having fun too, and that’s why you’re playing. You’ll both feel better knowing that you’re enjoying yourselves!
If you’re playing online, there are lots of ways to find other players. You could try looking in forums where people talk about Words with Friends. There are also a few websites dedicated to finding people to play with. You can usually find a lot of information about the site through Google searches. Once you find a bunch of users, you can chat with them and see if they’ll play some games with you.
Just remember that you’re here to have fun and to spend time with your friends, so don’t forget that! No matter how bad you’re doing, or how hard it is to stay involved in the conversation, you’ll feel a whole lot better if you remember that!