This humorous personal essay explores the competitive world of online word games like Wordfeud, revealing the lengths players will go to for victory, including the use of sometimes embarrassing and crude words. The author recounts his family's history with Scrabble and how online games have kept their rivalry alive, highlighting the strategies and sacrifices involved in achieving success.
While some teenagers were off surfing or trying their luck in Mediterranean nightclubs, I was tussling over high-scoring tiles and arguing with my brother about his latest dubious two-letter word discovery. My dad, not a natural Scrabble r, would usually be somewhere in the background, guffawing loudly at his annual dose of Bill Bryson. We sometimes encouraged him to join us, but he took painfully long over each turn, and would eventually play something like CAT for a measly six points.
We left him to his travelogues. Online apps have enabled a continuation of the familial rivalry into adulthood despite our dispersal around the UK. I was relatively late to the party, my mum and brother having discovered the Scrabble-like Wordfeud game many years ago. By the time I signed up, my brother’s rating had gained such dizzying heights that he was unwilling even to play me, for fear that defeat against a newbie would lose him too many points on the leaderboard. He needn’t have worried. It took me months to beat him, by which time my own rating had become faintly more respectable –– and so any loss he might suffer against me would invoke a lesser penalty. My rare wins against my younger sibling are a cause for guttural celebration. His usual excellence is a cause for admiring irritation. In one game, he put out all seven letters on six separate occasions. While irksome, feats like these have spurred me on to refine my skills and search out unusual terms that might come in handy in my next game – even though they are unlikely to have much purpose in real life. For instance, it’s rare that I find myself chatting to friends or colleagues about the position of an object in the sky, expressed as an angle related to a distance on the horizon of the Earth – but AZIMUTH makes for a cracking seven-letter move. If you’re serious about victory, it is sometimes necessary, too, to push the boundaries of polite behaviour. In the hyper competitive world of Wordfeud, there can be no room for squeamishness. If you have the letters UFINGCK, then I’m afraid there is a clear opportunity to be taken, however crass it might appear on the board. In the pursuit of success against a sibling or a parent, an extra 40 points for using all your letters in one go is vital – there’s no point ducking it. In a recent game against my mother, the best score I could achieve was with the word VAG. “That’s a bit rude,” she scolded me via an in-app text message. And indeed, I would have felt moderately embarrassed about it had she not played QUIM three turns earlier. When I pointed that out to her, she replied brusquely: “That’s different – I’m an old lady.” Playing expletives or other fruity words against strangers can be awkward. One opponent I came against seemed to delight in it – but he had named his account C***yB*****ks, so perhaps he was an outlier. Still, needs must, and such is the plethora of synonyms for certain parts of the human body that it’s almost inevitable to find yourself putting down BUTT, NOB or worse from time to time. My wife, a Wordfeud and Scrabble refusenik, is frequently aghast. When she saw me play the words THRUST and then CLIT in a recent game against a stranger, she accused me of being an internet troll. “What would your mother say?!” she asked despairingly. As it happened, mum had just dropped the C-bomb on a triple word square, so I think she’d have approved
Humor Games Wordfeud Scrabble Competition Family Strategy Humor Language Online Games
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
World of Warcraft's competitive dungeon mode is strugglingBlizzard is making class balance, dungeon and mechanics changes as Mythic Plus participation plummets.
Read more »
Is The World Tired Of Open World Games?A reader ponders if the gaming industry has grown too big and if open world games are losing their appeal.
Read more »
Epic Games CEO Slams Tech Giants for Trump Embrace, Citing Anti-Competitive MotivesTim Sweeney argues that tech companies are changing their political affiliations to please the new administration at the expense of consumers. He believes they are pushing for anti-competitive policies that benefit them but harm the wider market.
Read more »
Kalle Rovanpera Launches KR69 World Enduro TeamTwo-time World Rally Champion Kalle Rovanpera enters the world of enduro racing by launching his own team, KR69 World Enduro Team, competing in the EnduroGP World Championship.
Read more »
Global Divide: Developing World Embraces Incumbents While Developed World RevoltsA stark contrast exists between the political landscapes of developed and developing countries. While developed nations grapple with anti-incumbent sentiment fueled by inflation, immigration, and inequality, developing nations see a resurgence in support for established leaders. This divergence in political attitudes is explored in detail, examining the factors contributing to these trends and their potential implications.
Read more »
OnlyFans BANS Bonnie Blue's 1,000-man gang bang after sordid 'world record' outraged the worldAn OnlyFans star says she has set a 'world record' for having sex with the most men in one day - saying she 'bedded 1,057 in 12 hours'. Bonnie Blue is reported to have topped the tally previously set by adult film actress Lisa Sparks.
Read more »