My friends got me playing WordTwist on Facebook, and I started playing it in “ladder” mode. That’s where you sorta compete against your friends and see if you can get the highest score. Well, one of my friends had a score of 181, which seemed pretty amazing. I’d try and try and get nowhere near it. Of course, I’d frequently only get 12 or 15 words out of 30-odd words. Sometimes I’d have a good round, but it was rare for me to break 100 points in a single round.
Finally I decided I had to cheat and see what the maximum score was. It turns out to be really easy, but I’m not going to reveal it all here and now.
Suffice it to say that, with a little bit of sleuthing, you can get a word list like this:
CALYXES,SCALY,SCALE,LACES,CALYX,AXLES,SALE,EASY,CLAY,CASE,AYES,AXLE,AXES, LACE,LACY,LAYS,LEAS,SEAL,SEXY,SLAY,YEAS,ALES,ACES,CAYS,LAY,LAX,LAC,CAY,AYE,AXE, ALE,LEA,LYE,SAC,YES,YEA,SLY,SEX,SEC,SEA,SAY,SAX,ACE
And you can get it before you start the game. That means you can have the word list on your screen and all you have to do is type them in. Assuming I can type that many words in before the 120 or 60-second clock runs out, I get all the words.
What frustrates me is the fact that, even when I cheat, I can’t beat my friend’s score of 181. I am now able to see the “luck of the draw” factor. Some boards just aren’t that valuable. They make you spend time playing them, but even if you’re flawless you won’t get a high score.
Knowing that took a lot out of the game for me. At least in ladder mode. Playing competitively against friends (without cheating) is still fun.