What Are the Important Deciding Factors?
Ultimately, the decision of whether you play Lexulous or Words With Friends will come down to your personal tastes. With that in mind, examining the similarities and differences of each app can help you make a more informed decision.
You’ll want to know these three things before making any decisions
The things the games do similarly
The things the games do differently
The content that is exclusive to each game
Lexulous and Words With Friends Similarities
This is the easy part of the comparison. With both Lexulous and Words With Friends based on the classic Scrabble formula, they share many of the same mechanics. You play the game on a grid, and players form words from letters to score points. The player with the highest score at the end of the game wins.
If you go past the basics, you’ll find that each game has other features that are identical to each other too:
Both games have a built-in game dictionary that automatically checks the validity of each word. If a word is not part of the dictionary, the game will not let you play it.
You have the option to communicate with your opponent through a text-based chat. As with any chat function, be cautious and avoid talking to anyone who might try to harass or scam you. If the need arises, both games allow you to block players.
The required in-game player abilities are all present. These include options like shuffling your letters and swapping unwanted letter tiles for new ones.
You can contact your friends via Facebook, email or text to invite them to become friends on the app and play games together.
Doing the Same Things Differently
Lexulous and Words With Friends need to follow certain patterns since they are both Scrabble-like games. But, that doesn’t mean they need to follow those patterns in the exact same ways. Each game takes “creative liberties” with how they implement many of their required features.
The games use different letter tiles. The quantity of letter tiles is different for each game. Words With Friends uses 104 letter tiles. Lexulous, however, uses only 89 tiles. This means games in Lexulous will finish more quickly. This also means that the letter distribution is different in each game, as well as their point values. Refer to the Lexulous letter distribution and tile values in the image above. Our article on Words With Friends letter values provides the equivalent information for that game.
Lexulous keeps its extra features to a minimum. It wants you to get right into the action and focus on playing your matches. Find words and win. Words With Friends, by contrast, adds to and updates its features routinely.One of the app’s main goals is to let you expand your enjoyment beyond the main gameplay.
Ads aren’t the same for each game. To be honest, one of the biggest reasons why people often switch from Words With Friends to another game is because of the app’s overabundance of ads. Lexulous does show ads, but thanks to the app’s overall simplicity, they don’t appear as often as they do in Words With Friends.
The Games’ Best Unique Features
Now it’s time to take a close look at the features each game offers that the other does not. For many players (and possibly you), these will be the ultimate deciding factors in why they will choose one game over the other.
Why Choose Lexulous?
Lexulous is a straightforward game for people who love the Scrabble formula. In that sense, it’s much like Wordfeud, another Scrabble-like game we’ve compared to Words With Friends.
Lexulous’ offline play is distinctly better and more elaborate than that of Words With Friends. You can play three different ways. “Computer” lets you play against a computer opponent. “Solitaire Mode” lets you play by yourself. Finally, “Pass ‘n’ Play” allows you to play locally by sharing one device.
Lexulous has a multitude of settings options. These allow you to adjust the most specific of details, such as automatic tile placement, displaying tile value, word definitions and the chat function. Everything is in the Settings menu, where you can easily toggle options on and off.
Lexulous has a paid version of the app. This version has the same features as the free one, but with the added bonus of removing all ads. With a single purchase of $1.99, you can turn off ads permanently.
Lexulous is available as a mobile app, but you can also log into and play in any web browser. The browser version of Lexulous isn’t a simplified version of the app either. It is a full experience with its own settings and features. You can make purchases for your account (which affects both the app and the browser game) and access the Lexulous player forum.
Why Play Words With Friends?
Again, Words With Friends puts a lot of effort into offering extra features and options to its players. The key for you is to know how much you enjoy them.
Words With Friends lets you customize a lot of the visual elements of the game. For example, you can change the design and color of the letter tiles and game board. Plus, you can add some graphical flair to your profile and profile image.
Traditional multiplayer, the Solo Challenges, Lightning Round — these are just some of the game modes that Words With Friends offers. Every mode exists to let you play however you want. You can play multiplayer modes to compete and increase your rankings. Or, you can stick to the single-player modes to refine your skills.
You have the option to use four power-ups. The power-ups are Swap+, Hindsight, Word Radar and Word Clue. Words With Friends gives you a few free ones when you first create an account. When you run out of those, you’ll have to buy more with either actual money or the in-game currency.
Words With Friends offers a lot of in-app purchases. These are nice to have for players who want them. Many customization features are only available for purchase. That might be a turn-off for many players.
Making the Best Game Decision for You
There is no clear-cut better choice between Lexulous and Words With Friends. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. If you want to be where the most people are and don’t really mind ads and in-app purchases, Words With Friends is still one of the best options. If you want to keep things simple, interact with other avid players and have access to a quality browser version of the game, Lexulous might be what you’re looking for. And, if you aren’t sold on either yet, you can check out our list of other epic online Scrabble games to find something that’s exactly right for you.
Zac Pricener has been a content creator for the past eight years. He’s a bit of an all-around nerd, and he has a bad habit of working movie and TV show references into conversations whenever possible.
