How to PlayLink to this

The object of War of Words 2 is quite simple: earn more points than your opponent! This is accomplished by playing words to earn points, blowing up your opponent's words, poisoning your opponent, and other similarly nefarious activities.

Most of your screen consists of the board, which is the grid of tiles toward the top of the screen. On an iPhone, you can zoom in and out on the grid by double-tapping or pinching your fingers in and out.

The bottom portion of your screen contains the rack, a collection of eight tiles that you can use on your turn. Use your finger to drag tiles from your rack out onto the board. On iPhone/iPod Touch, you can see everyone's scores at the bottom left of your screen. On iPad, those scores are across the top of the screen.

Your goal for most turns is to spell a word. Words are how you get points. A word must consist of contiguous letters (in a row), and must be either horizontal or vertical. Words are read left-to-right or top-to-bottom.

You can't just put a word anywhere on the board. Every word has to connect to an existing letter on the board, or it needs to be positioned over at least one Star or Water tile.

When you're done with your turn, hit the Play button at the bottom. Any empty slots in your rack will be replenished from the supply. The supply contains an assortment of tiles that are shuffled and given out randomly to players as the game progresses.

If you can't play any words, you can choose to Pass your turn or Swap some tiles. If you and your opponents collectively pass their turns 3 times in a row, the game is over. You're only allowed to swap your tiles a total of 5 times throughout the entire game.

War of Words 2 contains many different board layouts. Each layout presents different challenges to overcome.

The game ends when the supply runs out of letters, and one player uses up all of their letters. The game can also end when players pass their turn three times in a row (so in a two player game, if you pass, then your opponent passes, then you pass, the game will end; in a 3-4 player game, if you pass and then two of your opponents pass, the game will end). If you're left with letters at the end of the game, the value of your remaining letters will be deducted from your score. The player with the most points wins! War of Words 2 games can end in a tie.

That's pretty much it. You don't have to play a word in every turn, but you do have to play something (or pass or swap tiles). Let's get into more advanced concepts next.

Action TilesLink to this

Wildcard TilesLink to this

Other FeaturesLink to this

Frequent QuestionsLink to this

What's NewLink to this

Official RulesLink to this

Placement Rules

A single contiguous horizontal or vertical line of letters must be played on the board. This word must connect with at least one other word on the board, be situated over a Star, or be played partially or fully on Water. (If you don't know what Water is, check out the War of Words 2 expansions in the Store!) Letters can be placed so that multiple new words are formed simultaneously using neighboring letters, as long as each word that is created is valid.
Portal Tiles drastically change how players may place words on the board. See the thorough description of Portal in the Armory for more details. Be aware that portals significantly complicate things, making it much more difficult to determine which word placements are legal. Many placements you expect to be legal may not be, and vice versa.
In lieu of playing a word, one or more Action Tiles may be played. This counts as a turn.
Any Action Tiles may be played as well as a word during a single turn.
Moving a Rain or Whirlwind tile, and not doing anything else, does not count as a turn. At least one tile of any type must be played.
Each word is checked for validity against the War of Words word list.
The game automatically attempts to find a valid word when a Wildcard Tile is encountered. All possibilities for the wildcards are checked until a word is found. If no word is found, the word is not valid. Wildcards are evaluated separately for each word they are in; therefore, a single Wildcard Tile can act as multiple letters simultaneously.
Players are only allowed 5 swaps total in a single game.

Turns are scored in the following order using the following rules.

Constructive Scoring

For any letters played during this turn, multiply the score listed on each letter by the value listed on any L Multipliers under it. (Letters that are part of this word, but not played during this turn, do not utilize any Multiplier Tiles.) If the board is irradiated (meaning a Nuclear Bomb had been played at some point), all letters are worth 1 point.
If the letter is positioned on Water which has been electrified, the letter will be multiplied by the listed electrification multiplier. This resulting value will be displayed directly on the letter tile itself.
Add up each letter's score in the word.
If the Bonus Letter is one of the letters in the word, add 10 points to the word.
For each W Multiplier under letters that were played during this turn, multiply the entire word's score by the value listed on the Multiplier Tile. (Letters that were not played during this turn do not utilize any Multipliers.) W Multipliers are additive with each other. For example, if a word is played over a 3W and a 5W, the word's score is multiplied by 8.
It's possible to create multiple words with the same play. When this happens, each new word is scored separately as above. Multipliers are counted multiple times if they are under letters that were played during this turn.
If a player plays 8 letters in a single turn, they receive a "bingo" and an extra 100 points.
Or, if a player plays 7 letters in a single turn, they receive a "bingo" and an extra 65 points.
Failing that, if a player plays 8 tiles in a single turn (which can be any mix of letters or actions), they receive a "bingo" and an extra 40 points.

Destructive Scoring

A Destructive Tile is an Action Tile that actually removes one or more tiles from the board.
If a Bomb was played, all letters, wildcards, and scenery tiles (for example, bricks, wooden crates, flowers, dirt, stone, plants, etc.) in a 3x3 square centered on the Bomb Tile will be destroyed (unless a Shield owned by the opposite player is positioned over them).
If a Blaster was played, all letters, wildcards, and scenery tiles to the left, right, above, or below the Blaster (depending on which direction the Blaster is facing) will be destroyed, unless a Shield owned by the opposite player is positioned over them, or until a Titanium Tile is encountered.
If a Whirlwind was played or moved to a new location, all letters, wildcards, scenery tiles (for example, bricks, wooden crates, flowers, dirt, stone, plants, etc.) and Multiplier tiles in a 3x3 square under the Whirlwind's area of effect will be destroyed (unless a Shield owned by the opposite player is positioned over them).
The value of all letters, multiplied by any underlying Multipliers, destroyed in this way will be deducted from the players who own them. Multipliers are not destroyed except by Black Hole, Quicksand, and Whirlwind. Other action tiles are not destroyed except by Black Hole. Any Multipliers revealed in this manner may be used again in a future turn.
When a scenery tile is destroyed by a player, there is a 1% chance it will reveal an 11L multiplier. If a Black Hole destroys a scenery tile or Titanium, it has a 5% chance to reveal an 11L. When a Pirate Ship destroys a scenery tile, it has a 50% chance to reveal an 11L tile. When Quicksand collapses, it has a 10% chance to reveal an 11L tile.
If multiple destructive tiles are played in a single turn, each one is evaluated consecutively from top to bottom and left to right on the board. Each destructive tile only destroys any given tile once. You can destroy the same word you play along with any destructive tile. You'll get credit for the word first, then lose the points for anything that was destroyed.
The above scoring and logic applies to all destructive tiles even if not specifically listed above (e.g. Bomb, Blaster, Black Hole, Fire, Lightning, and Whirlwind). Nuclear Bomb is technically a destructive tile, but it behaves differently — it destroys all letters and scenery on the board, and does not cause any player to lose points. Black Hole and Quicksand are also special, in that Shields can't stop them.

Persistent Tiles and Effects

Poison Tiles are evaluated every turn. In a 3x3 area centered on the tile, points are deducted from whoever owns any letters or wildcards in that area. 1 point is deducted for each letter or wildcard, unless the tile is over a Multiplier tile. If so, the listed number on the multiplier is deducted. So an 8L tile will cause an 8 point deduction, and a 5W tile will cause a 5 point deduction. These larger deductions only occur if a letter or wildcard was played on top of the multiplier.
Medic Tiles are evaluated every turn. In a 3x3 area centered on the tile, points are granted to whoever owns any letters or wildcards in that area. 1 point is granted for each letter or wildcard, unless the tile is over a Multiplier tile. If so, the listed number on the multiplier is granted. So an 8L tile will cause an addition of 8 points, and a 5W tile will cause an addition of 5 points. These larger additions only occur if a letter or wildcard was played on top of the multiplier.
Clouds exist only on the Cloudy Day in the Park board. Clouds obscure an area on the board approximately 5x5 in size. You can't see under clouds (the Peek feature will not hide them). If you're playing any tile under a cloud, in-play scoring stops working. This intentionally makes it more difficult to play words under clouds. After each turn, swap, or pass, the clouds move around the board independently in a random fashion.
Black Hole Tiles exist for 4 turns. They start at a 1x1 size, and increase to 3x3, 5x5, and 7x7. After a black hole has been 7x7 for one turn, it collapses and disappears. During the collapse, it may reveal various random multipliers.
Fire is evaluated every turn. Under each square that is currently pictured on fire, destructible scenery and letters are destroyed. All destroyed tiles are calculated together at once, including any Multipliers under them. After tiles are destroyed, Fire has a chance to grow to one or more additional squares. (It won't immediately destroy the new tiles it has grown to until the following turn.)
Rain Tiles are evaluated every turn. In a 3x3 area under the pictured graphic, points are granted to whoever owns any letters or wildcards in that area. 1 point is granted for each letter or wildcard, unless the tile is over a Multiplier tile. If so, the listed number on the multiplier is granted. So an 8L tile will cause an addition of 8 points, and a 5W tile will cause an addition of 5 points. These larger additions only occur if a letter or wildcard was played on top of the multiplier. Additionally, Rain causes any Multipliers under it to grow by +1, with a maximum of 8L, 8W, or 9LW. When Rain is positioned over Sand, it has a chance to grow LW Multipliers. See the Armory for more details on this process.
Water has an Electrification Multiplier that starts at 1. Each time a Lightning tile is played within Water, the multiplier is doubled, up to a maximum of 512 (which requires 9 Lightning tiles to achieve). Once the multiplier reaches 2 or higher, players will see a graphic indicating the current multiplier for that patch of Water. Each Water patch is normally independent of each other (with separate multipliers), except for the water on the River Delta and Swampland boards. The Electrification Multiplier is used to calculate the score for any letters played on that patch of Water.
Whirlwind Tiles exist for 3 of their owner's turns, and are evaluated every turn. In a 3x3 area under the pictured graphic, all letters, scenery, and Multipliers are destroyed (unless the tiles are inside an opponent's Shield).
Quicksand Tiles exist for 3 turns. They start at a 1x1 size, and increase to 3x3 and then 5x5. As Quicksand expands, it re-scores every tile within its area of effect, exactly as if all those tiles had been played by their owners during that turn. If a Sandstorm is active at the time, Quicksand additionally multiplies that score by 2. After Quicksand has been 5x5 for one turn, it collapses and disappears. During the collapse, it removes any letters, Multipliers, and Shields in its area of effect, and it may reveal various new multipliers at random. Quicksand has no effect whatsoever on areas of the board which are not Sand.

End of Game

The game ends when all letters are exhausted from the supply, and one of the players plays all of their letters. Actions can remain in the supply, and can also remain in players' racks, and they will not stop the game from ending if all letters are used up.
The game also ends on the third consecutive Pass. So in a two player game if Player 1 passes, then Player 2 passes, then Player 1 passes, the game will end. In a 3-4 player game, if Player 1 passes, then Player 2 passes, then Player 3 passes, the game will end, etc.
During the first round of turns, any player may choose to Leave Game without incurring a loss on their record.
Once the first round of play is over (play has come back to the original challenger), any player who elects to Forfeit Game will incur a loss. As long as at least 2 players remain in the game, the game will continue.
If the game ends because the second-to-last player resigns, the remaining player wins the game.
When a player doesn't play a turn for at least 3 days, other players in the game can elect to Kick Idle Player. This causes the idle player to incur a loss and be removed from the game. If kicking the idle player results in the game ending, and the remaining player has a higher score, the remaining player receives a win.
Players who leave a game early become "inactive". Inactive players are not allowed to access the Combat Log or Chat. Inactive players may still observe the game as it is being played, but will not receive push notifications about the game (so the game will not auto-update at any time). Inactive players may still lose or gain points during the game, depending on persistent effects or if their tiles are destroyed by other players. Inactive players cannot win the game, however, even if the game ends and they have the most points.
For the purposes of the win/loss record, players who leave a game early (but after the initial round of turns) take a loss and cannot win.
Players who leave a game early never have their Average Score or Weighted Score adjusted.
When the game ends, any letters remaining in each player's rack will be deducted from the player's score. This deduction occurs even if the game ended due to three consecutive passes. It does not occur when the game ends due to players resigning. Action Tiles that remain in the rack are not worth any points and will not change the score.
Games can end in a tie.
At the conclusion of the game, all players' scores are reported to the Game Center leaderboard.

Pass and Play Games

Although Pass and Play games are played all on a single device, an Internet connection is still required in order to allow the server to process and store the turns appropriately.
Players cannot earn achievements from Pass and Play games.
Pass and Play games are not reported to Game Center leaderboards.
You cannot use the Reserves in a Pass and Play game.
Pass and Play games do not automatically prompt you to tweet high scores and wins.
Pass and Play games do not save the last positions of tiles in your rack.
You can't access Chat in a Pass and Play game. Instead, on an iPhone or iPod Touch, the Chat button at the top right of your screen turns into the Radiation icon, which brings up the Combat Log.
You can't Kick Idle Player in a Pass and Play game.
Resigning in a Pass and Play always ends the game immediately.

Troubleshooting

User Names and Invites

Titles and Avatars

Gameplay and Action Tiles

Expansion Packs

Your Games

Playing on Multiple Devices or with Multiple Accounts

Leaderboards

The Dictionary

The Store and Expansions