Words with Friends

As a child I loved playing Scrabble with family members whom I now realise probably let me win more than my fair share of games. I was very excited when someone in my Dad's family gave me my very own Scrabble set (which I still have) as a birthday present when I was about ten.

Over the years I haven't played much Scrabble probably because Mr Geniaus doesn't share my enthusiasm for word games but I have always enjoyed wordy activities. Before I retired I mentioned to a friend that I might join a local Scrabble Club for a spot of activity but I never did because Words with Friends came into my life. It is a Scrabble type game that one can play on an iDevice, an Android device or via Facebook on a PC.

I love WWF because I can get a Scrabble fix without ever leaving home and I can play it in my own time and at my own pace.

My elder daughter got me hooked, then I started playing with her Mother-in-law; that would have been over twelve months ago. My list of playmates has grown but is not huge and contains a nice mix of people from my life. Among them is a colleague from work days, a distant cousin of my mother, my best friend, my 12 year old grand-daughter and her younger brother, a couple of geniemates and now my younger daughter. Because of spelling issues I don't play with any of my friends from the US but restrict myself to opponents who use The Queen's English.

We all  play at different times and at a different pace, with some opponents I have multiple games on the go and with others just one. Some mornings when I open up the app I find that I need to play a dozen moves and sometimes there may be only one or two. I usually check the app first thing in the morning and last thing at night and, depending on my activities, once or twice during the day.

I can recommend Words with Friends as a great way of giving the brain cells a workout.