Vs. Scrabble
Scrabble is THE classic crosswords board game. When we get together with friends, we still enjoy playing Scrabble with a physical board, wooden tiles, and (of course) challenges. Wordiamo is to be played in addition to Scrabble and not instead of it.
With Wordiamo, you can play words unconnected to other words.
In Scrabble, after the first turn, you must play new words by building off of words already on the board. In Wordiamo, this is not required, though you do have to connect your words to the "mainland" group (i.e., the group on top of the center square) in order to score their points. Thus if you have a great word, you can just play it now and join it later.
The board has no bonus squares; instead, bonus multiplier = number of letters played.
In Scrabble point bonuses are associated with board squares (e.g., triple-letter score, double-word score). In Wordiamo, bonuses are not tied to the board. Instead, a letter bonus multiplier is awarded based on the number of letters played on your turn. Also, the multiplier is only applied to the letters played on your turn. Consider the word ‘retain’, whose letters in both games each have a value of 1 point. In Scrabble, with 1 point for each letter and no board square multipliers, this word is worth 6 points. In Wordiamo, if you play each letter in ‘retain’ on your turn (not building off of letters already on the board), then ‘retain’ is worth 36 points because of a 6x multiplier awarded for playing 6 letters.
You can score bonuses when you play through words already on the board.
In Wordiamo, when you build a bridge between words, you get a bonus for the letters in the bridge. Bridge words are more difficult to make than non-bridge words because you have two or more letters with positions fixed and out of your control. So now when you "play through" and bridge words already on the board, you are duly rewarded. Scrabble scoring does not recognize these challenging words, though you do get major props.
The board stays open longer.
In Scrabble, by the middle and end stages of a game, there may only be a handful of open places to play. Because new words must be played off of words already on the board, the board can get cramped when players avoid creating open positions as a defensive tactic. Because point multipliers are associated with bonus squares, the board tends to close up near those squares as players vie for them. Because none of these factors exist in Wordiamo, boards are more open and, compared to Scrabble, defensive strategies are not as important. In fact, Wordiamo was designed from the ground up to open up the board.
Get up to 8 letters in your rack.
In Scrabble, you cannot hold more than 7 letters. In Wordiamo, you normally hold 7 letters but if you play 6 or 7 letters, you are awarded an 8th letter. For a 6-letter play, you receive a bonus draw and for a 7-letter play you are awarded a newly created star (a "wild card" like the blank in Scrabble).
100-point bonus for playing 8 letters in a word
In Wordiamo there is no additional point bonus for playing 7 letters like there is in Scrabble. Instead, if you play 8 letters in one turn to make a word, that word receives a 100-point bonus.
Win by knockout.
In Wordiamo, if you play 8 letters directly on the mainland (i.e., not as an island), you win immediately by knockout. Unlike Scrabble, where a large lead in points can put the game out of reach, in Wordiamo when you are behind on points you can still win by knockout.
No ties.
Unlike Scrabble, Wordiamo never ends in a tie. If the score is tied at the end of the game, the player who took the final turn wins.
Star letters receive the value of the letter they are assigned.
While in Scrabble blank letters are worth zero points, in Wordiamo the star letter (equivalent of a blank) takes on the value of its assigned letter.
Wordiamo uses a 17x17 board.
The Wordiamo board is slightly bigger than the Scrabble board. This keeps the board less cramped in the middle and late stages of the game.
Play 1-letter words and Deluxe words.
Unlike Scrabble, the one-letter words ‘I’ and ‘a’ are allowed in Wordiamo as unconnected islands. Additionally, while Scrabble does not allow proper nouns and other related words, Wordiamo does allow some of these words as part of a Deluxe option. Examples of Deluxe words are: ‘Botox’, ‘Elvis’, ‘Zen’, ‘Socrates’, ‘Spanish’, and ‘Buddhist’.
Knowing all the 2- and 3-letter words is a bit less important.
In Wordiamo, because scoring is associated with the number of letters played, 2- and 3-letter words are inherently worth less than longer words. Furthermore, because there are no bonus multipliers attached to board squares, playing two short words going down and across in a single turn doesn’t yield as many points as it possibly can in Scrabble. For example, in Scrabble if you play ‘za’ going down and across, when you play a ‘z’ on a triple-letter score square and both ‘a’ letters were already on the board, you would score 10x3+1 (‘za’ across) + 10x3+1 (‘za’ down) for 62 points (‘z’ = 10 in Scrabble). In Wordiamo, this double ‘za’ is worth 10 points, 4x1+1 + 4x1+1 (‘z’ = 4 in Wordiamo). Knowing the short words is still handy in Wordiamo, just less important than in Scrabble.
Scrabble players fear not.
The principles of anagramming and rack management are still as important in Wordiamo as they are in Scrabble. Fear not—it's still about knowing words. Like heavyweight boxers, high level Scrabble players will be be going for the knockout.
With Wordiamo, you can play words unconnected to other words.
In Scrabble, after the first turn, you must play new words by building off of words already on the board. In Wordiamo, this is not required, though you do have to connect your words to the "mainland" group (i.e., the group on top of the center square) in order to score their points. Thus if you have a great word, you can just play it now and join it later.
The board has no bonus squares; instead, bonus multiplier = number of letters played.
In Scrabble point bonuses are associated with board squares (e.g., triple-letter score, double-word score). In Wordiamo, bonuses are not tied to the board. Instead, a letter bonus multiplier is awarded based on the number of letters played on your turn. Also, the multiplier is only applied to the letters played on your turn. Consider the word ‘retain’, whose letters in both games each have a value of 1 point. In Scrabble, with 1 point for each letter and no board square multipliers, this word is worth 6 points. In Wordiamo, if you play each letter in ‘retain’ on your turn (not building off of letters already on the board), then ‘retain’ is worth 36 points because of a 6x multiplier awarded for playing 6 letters.
You can score bonuses when you play through words already on the board.
In Wordiamo, when you build a bridge between words, you get a bonus for the letters in the bridge. Bridge words are more difficult to make than non-bridge words because you have two or more letters with positions fixed and out of your control. So now when you "play through" and bridge words already on the board, you are duly rewarded. Scrabble scoring does not recognize these challenging words, though you do get major props.
The board stays open longer.
In Scrabble, by the middle and end stages of a game, there may only be a handful of open places to play. Because new words must be played off of words already on the board, the board can get cramped when players avoid creating open positions as a defensive tactic. Because point multipliers are associated with bonus squares, the board tends to close up near those squares as players vie for them. Because none of these factors exist in Wordiamo, boards are more open and, compared to Scrabble, defensive strategies are not as important. In fact, Wordiamo was designed from the ground up to open up the board.
Get up to 8 letters in your rack.
In Scrabble, you cannot hold more than 7 letters. In Wordiamo, you normally hold 7 letters but if you play 6 or 7 letters, you are awarded an 8th letter. For a 6-letter play, you receive a bonus draw and for a 7-letter play you are awarded a newly created star (a "wild card" like the blank in Scrabble).
100-point bonus for playing 8 letters in a word
In Wordiamo there is no additional point bonus for playing 7 letters like there is in Scrabble. Instead, if you play 8 letters in one turn to make a word, that word receives a 100-point bonus.
Win by knockout.
In Wordiamo, if you play 8 letters directly on the mainland (i.e., not as an island), you win immediately by knockout. Unlike Scrabble, where a large lead in points can put the game out of reach, in Wordiamo when you are behind on points you can still win by knockout.
No ties.
Unlike Scrabble, Wordiamo never ends in a tie. If the score is tied at the end of the game, the player who took the final turn wins.
Star letters receive the value of the letter they are assigned.
While in Scrabble blank letters are worth zero points, in Wordiamo the star letter (equivalent of a blank) takes on the value of its assigned letter.
Wordiamo uses a 17x17 board.
The Wordiamo board is slightly bigger than the Scrabble board. This keeps the board less cramped in the middle and late stages of the game.
Play 1-letter words and Deluxe words.
Unlike Scrabble, the one-letter words ‘I’ and ‘a’ are allowed in Wordiamo as unconnected islands. Additionally, while Scrabble does not allow proper nouns and other related words, Wordiamo does allow some of these words as part of a Deluxe option. Examples of Deluxe words are: ‘Botox’, ‘Elvis’, ‘Zen’, ‘Socrates’, ‘Spanish’, and ‘Buddhist’.
Knowing all the 2- and 3-letter words is a bit less important.
In Wordiamo, because scoring is associated with the number of letters played, 2- and 3-letter words are inherently worth less than longer words. Furthermore, because there are no bonus multipliers attached to board squares, playing two short words going down and across in a single turn doesn’t yield as many points as it possibly can in Scrabble. For example, in Scrabble if you play ‘za’ going down and across, when you play a ‘z’ on a triple-letter score square and both ‘a’ letters were already on the board, you would score 10x3+1 (‘za’ across) + 10x3+1 (‘za’ down) for 62 points (‘z’ = 10 in Scrabble). In Wordiamo, this double ‘za’ is worth 10 points, 4x1+1 + 4x1+1 (‘z’ = 4 in Wordiamo). Knowing the short words is still handy in Wordiamo, just less important than in Scrabble.
Scrabble players fear not.
The principles of anagramming and rack management are still as important in Wordiamo as they are in Scrabble. Fear not—it's still about knowing words. Like heavyweight boxers, high level Scrabble players will be be going for the knockout.
Vs. Words With Friends
Because Words With Friends (WWF) is essentially a clone of Scrabble with tweaks in board square placement and scoring, the differences Wordiamo has with Scrabble are also its differences with WWF. Additionally, in WWF because of the board layout and because a 7-letter word in WWF is only awarded a 35-point bonus, in WWF sometimes you may decide not to play a 7-letter word for fear of giving up a triple-letter/triple-word score combination (which can be achieved with just a 4-letter word) to your opponent (how depressing). In Wordiamo, you should rarely pass on a long word for fear of giving up a big play to your opponent.
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