In 2009 developer Zynga debuted Words With Friends, a Scrabble-like game on the iOS App Store that quickly became one of the most popular and well-known apps associated with iPhone gaming. Today, Zynga is launching the first proper sequel to the game, Words With Friends 2, as a brand-new and free app on the App Store, and it'll carry over all of your friends, running games, and settings from the first app.

words with friends 2
In terms of gameplay, Words With Friends 2 plays the same as the original, offering up a word-creation board game against your friends in an asynchronous multiplayer experience. Additionally, Zynga said that it has added in a few new features to the sequel, "requested from the Words With Friends player community," including a Solo Challenge that pits you against an AI bot, a team versus team Lightning Round, and an enhanced Social Dictionary.

Solo Challenge is meant to help you develop your strategy and vocabulary in a single player-style experience of "increasingly tough matches." The Lightning Round mode is Zynga's first-ever synchronous multiplayer feature, allowing you to play against more than one person in the same match by joining a team of five total players, resulting in a "faster and more competitive" mode than the traditional gameplay.

words with friends 2 1
All of the new features come in an app that's also newly designed with a "refreshed, modern look and feel," according to Zynga.

“As one of Zynga’s most popular and iconic forever franchises, Words With Friends continues to connect millions of people around the world every day through a shared love of social wordplay,” said Bernard Kim, President of Publishing, Zynga. “Words With Friends 2 honors the rich, pop-culture legacy and beloved social gameplay of Words With Friends, while introducing innovative features in the largest refresh in the game’s eight-year history.

We’re proud to bring our loyal fans a brand-new experience that’s inspired by all the ways they want to play. Whether it’s teaming up in our first-ever synchronous multiplayer mode with Lightning Round or improving their vocabulary prowess in Solo Challenge, Words With Friends 2 gives players more opportunities to master their favorite word game than ever before.”

Zynga mentioned that over the course of eight years, more than 140 billion words have been played in Words With Friends, and to this day over 6.5 million matches are created every day. The popular original game spawned numerous spiritual successors created by Zynga and tackling other well-known game genres, including Hanging With Friends, Chess With Friends, Matching With Friends, Crosswords With Friends, Boggle With Friends, Word Streak With Friends, and more.

You can download Words With Friends 2 on the iOS App Store for free beginning today [Direct Link]. The sequel is also available on Google Play for Android devices.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Top Rated Comments

jimmirehman Avatar
77 months ago
Why do we need a sequel to a board game app? Just update the original.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Krayzkat Avatar
77 months ago
I played this when it first came out. Was really popular on Facebook. It wasn’t originally a Zynga game though. Once it became really popular Zynga paid a ******** for it, then afterwards people stopped playing it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AllergyDoc Avatar
77 months ago
The ad-free old version doesn’t work in iOS 11. You’re forced to use an app loaded with ads, unless you pay $30 for the ad-free version. No thanks.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Booch21 Avatar
77 months ago
I play this frequently with, shocker, friends. I had the ad-free version. I got the new app, started it up, and it runs great and looks good. I deleted the older version and no issues with current games, and I don't see ads.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dljeffery Avatar
77 months ago
Maybe they didn’t previously have the ad-free version?
Must be. I've played several turns in WWF2 today and haven't seen a single ad. In the app description, it also says "Play Words With Friends 2 without third party ads between moves if you previously purchased either Words With Friends Pro or no third-party ads in the original Words With Friends on any mobile device."

I bought the paid version way back when I started playing on the original app and haven't ever seen any ads, including on New Words With Friends and now Words With Friends 2.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OldSchoolMacGuy Avatar
77 months ago
Why do we need a sequel to a board game app? Just update the original.
Updating the original won't bring people back. Releasing a new app means many of the people that download the original but haven't touched it in years will download the new app to check it out.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 With Bug Fixes, Plus iOS 17.0.2 for iPhone 15 Models

Thursday September 21, 2023 10:28 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates for the iPhone and the iPad, adding bug fixes to the new software. The iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates come just a few days after Apple launched iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. The software, which is build 21A340, can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There is a...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
emojipedia 15 1 emoji

Emoji Coming to Future iOS 17 Update Include Shaking Head, Brown Mushroom, Lime, Phoenix and More

Tuesday September 19, 2023 12:43 pm PDT by
As Apple was announcing new iPhone models last week, the Unicode Consortium was officially approving new emoji characters that are set to be added to smartphones starting in 2024. Mockup of new emoji from Emojipedia Approved Unicode 15.1 emoji include phoenix, lime, an edible mushroom, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake), and broken...
iPhone 15 Pro Max 5x Optical Zoom Limit Feature 1

Apple Explains Why iPhone 15 Pro Max is Limited to 5x Optical Zoom

Wednesday September 20, 2023 9:52 am PDT by
In an interview with Numerama's Nicolas Lellouche, Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack explained why the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism lens system is limited to 5x optical zoom, instead of 10x like on Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra. The interview is in French, so quotes below are computer translated. Apple says the Telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max features the...