Crossplay, Scrabble, and Words with Friends
The three games look alike and score differently. This page is the table the board solver switches when you change the game. Shaded rows are letters whose points are not the same in all three. Open the Scrabble finder or the Words with Friends finder if that is the board in front of you. The Crossplay charts are the tile values and the board layout.
Sweep, blanks, and the center
| Crossplay | Scrabble | Words with Friends | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All 7 tiles | 40, a sweep | 50, a bingo | 35, a bingo |
| Blanks on the rack | Up to 3 | Up to 2 | Up to 2 |
| Center square | Star. No score bonus. The first word must cover it. | Star. Double word. The first word must cover it. | No star and no bonus. The first word must still cover the center. |
| Word list here | Shared list | Same shared list | Same shared list. The Words with Friends list is not loaded separately. |
The all-tiles bonus is added after word multipliers. A double-word square does not double the 40, the 50, or the 35. The scoring page shows that with QUIXOTE.
The shared list is TWL06 plus DA, GI, PO, TE, EW, and OK, 178,697 words. NYT Crossplay's own list is NWL2023 with New York Times edits. Longer words added since 2006 can be missing here. That limit is the same whichever game button is selected.
One opening, three totals
This comparison uses one placement in all three games: QUIXOTE across row 8, columns 5 through 11, which the results list calls Across at 8,5. The board is empty, so there is no cross-word, and all seven tiles are new. It is not the highest opening for this rack. It is the same squares, so the gap is the rules. Crossplay's face value is 24 before its two double-letter squares, and the star does not double the word. Scrabble's U is 1 rather than 2, so the face value is 23, and the center star doubles it. Words with Friends matches Crossplay's U at 2, doubles I and O on its own double-letter squares, and does not double the word.
| Game | What the squares do | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Crossplay | Two double letters, star does not multiply, sweep 40 | 67 |
| Scrabble | Center doubles the word, bingo 50 | 96 |
| Words with Friends | Two double letters, center does not multiply, bingo 35 | 61 |
Same letters, same squares, three results. Scrabble is highest on this line because the center is a double word and the bingo is 50. Show Me Best Move will not stop on this line. On an empty board it lists QUIXOTE at 110 in Crossplay (Across at 8,6), 116 in Scrabble (Across at 8,4), and 105 in Words with Friends (Across at 8,7). Those are different squares. The Crossplay 110 is worked letter by letter on the scoring page.
Letter values
Fourteen letters differ in at least one game. A, D, E, F, I, O, Q, R, S, T, X, Z, and the blank score the same in all three. Nine letters differ between Crossplay and Scrabble: B, G, H, J, K, L, U, V, and W. Twelve differ between Words with Friends and Scrabble: B, C, G, H, J, L, M, N, P, U, V, and Y. K and W are the Crossplay changes that Words with Friends does not share. C, M, N, P, and Y are the Words with Friends changes that Crossplay does not share.
A few of those change a decision, not just a table. G is 4 in Crossplay, 2 in Scrabble, and 3 in Words with Friends, so a rack full of G is a different hand in each game. U is 2 outside Scrabble, which is why QUIXOTE's face value drops by a point when you switch to Scrabble. J is 10 in Crossplay and Words with Friends, and 8 in Scrabble. W is 5 only in Crossplay. N is 2 only in Words with Friends, so ordinary tiles pay a little more there while the bingo pays less.
| Letter | Crossplay | Scrabble | Words with Friends |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| B | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| C | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| D | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| E | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| F | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| G | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| H | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| I | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| J | 10 | 8 | 10 |
| K | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| L | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| M | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| N | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| O | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| P | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Q | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| R | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| S | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| T | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| U | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| V | 6 | 4 | 5 |
| W | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| X | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Y | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Z | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Blank | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Bonus squares
All three boards are 15 by 15. The counts below are the layouts this solver draws. Scrabble's 17 double-word squares include the center. Crossplay's 8 do not, because the center is a star with no bonus. Crossplay puts a triple letter on each corner and a triple word on the fourth square in from that corner, along the edge. Scrabble puts a triple word on each corner.
Fewer double-word squares means a Crossplay word multiplier is rarer, so the sweep and the 20 triple-letter squares do more of the scoring. Words with Friends, on the board used here, has 38 double-letter squares and a 35-point bingo, so a hook on a double letter can matter more than chasing a bingo that pays less.
| Square | Crossplay | Scrabble | Words with Friends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triple word | 8 | 8 | 12 |
| Double word | 8 | 17 | 10 |
| Triple letter | 20 | 12 | 12 |
| Double letter | 20 | 24 | 38 |
| Center | No bonus | Double word | No bonus |
How many tiles
Crossplay's bag has 100 tiles. Face value, the points printed on every tile added together, is 210. Scrabble's bag is also 100 tiles and its face value is 187. Crossplay has 40 vowel tiles (A, E, I, O, U). Scrabble has 42. The counts that differ are S, H, and the blank, one more each in Crossplay, and I, N, and U, one fewer each. The full Crossplay bag is the table on the tile values page. This helper does not keep a separate Words with Friends bag. It scores the letters you type with the Words with Friends points above.