I like playing Words With Friends. A lot. I have multiple games going with family and a couple games with friends. But, the time difference sometimes makes it hard to play--we each may only get to play one round each day. So, every few days, I start a game with a random opponent, hoping to play some Words in the middle of the day. I've had two opponents who I know were in the eastern hemisphere because of the time of day they played. I've had others who play in spurts, especially on weekends. A couple of my opponents have chatted through the program, giving compliments about my gamesmanship and asking what country I'm in. It's fun to say "hello" and "nice game" across the miles, even when you don't know the person.
I enjoy playing with my family. For the most part, we understand how each other operates. My sister, Mom, and Jip also understand when it is time to sacrifice for the sake of the board--I appreciate that. Playing with strangers is more challenging. For one thing, their skills are completely unknown. Another problem is that some people give up pretty easily if you make a good play and they resign the game. But, the biggest problem with playing with strangers is that you don't know if they are cheating. There are a number of apps that will help players cheat by coming up with words based on the tiles. There's even an in-app purchase in Words that will give three suggestions for words.
I'm left wondering whether those players who really challenged me were doing so on their own. I hope so. I like those hard games, even if I get beat by 100 points. I just hope that I never get paired up with the person who played this. (This can't be real, can it?)
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