Word Wipe Strategy

[BradK250887]

I see every day that the leading scorers are in the 40,000 range.  I am far from illiterate, but I rarely score above 11,000.  Is there a strategy, a technique to get more time or more words?  The enormous but consistent discrepancy is a great curiosity.  Any advice?

[lliefveld]

Understanding how it's scores will help.  The letter 'B' is worth 7 points.  G = 5 points.   'CMPTU' are each worth 4 points, and 'DRSHI' are each worth 2 points.  All other letters are worth 1 point.  Add up the letters in the word, times 2 times the number of letters in the word (unless all letters in the 'word' are the same, in which case just add up the letters times 2).

As you can see, the  rarely used letters are only worth 1 point (contrary to Scrabble), but it's still good to try to use them if you have a chance, so you don't end up with letters that don't go together.   I usually try to get any 'B' and 'G' words first.  Then, I try to use the bombs early on - if I can use just one bomb to clear the board.   I don't think it's worth it to use several bombs just to clear the board.

Knowing the value of the letters will help you decide whether you should choose 'BAG' or 'BUG', for instance.

[joeysback]

How in the world did you find what the letter values were?

Did you know that if you have 3 or more same letters connected you can wipe them out?  (Say you have 5 "H"s, you can wipe out 3, 4 or all five if you like as long as they are connected like a word.)

[pamjets12]

how would i have known the value of the letters.  I never actually saw any instructions!!

[e480628s]

I don't know the value of each letter, but my highest word score was for "submitted": 522. "Barracuda", with the same number of letters was only worth 432. BTW, I could never find these longer words with the clock running. I never start a game till I've studied the board at Level 1. If I can't find two or three 7-8 letter words, I clear the screen and start over. After Level 1, I use the pause button regularly to stop the clock and find four and five-letter words. My high score is 36,798 but I've never gotten past Round 14.
I'm far from a genius, but I seriously question those who claim scores of 50K and above.

[LynaeH276013]

I score on average 40,000 to 70,000.  My high score was over 80,000 and I was on at least  level  25.  I am too stupid to cheat, but did work for 40 years as a tshirt airbrush artist....so I am used to accuracy, speed and adjusting to the new words that pop up when the tiles rearrange.  I play on arcadium where there are bonus bombs.  For me its all about relaxing and having fun.  I don't like to study the gray areas or freeze a screen shot  (how?).  I do play every day.  I am recovering from a head injury and covid, so memory issues.  If I can't get above 30,000, I know I am having a bad day...so I watch my decision making etc.  Hey, sometimes the board just sucks or isn't in my wheelhouse...just get through it and move on.  I never subscribe to anything, so my most recent high score is roughly 72,000 and my name is Wordwacker on arcadium.  When you don't subscribe your name and scores sometime disappear and they give you a new on like Fiercewonder63 or something.  Arcadium also has a new thing where if you get an unusual word a little gold cup appears and you can share it to a clipboard, which I do occasionally...I personally don't pay attention to letter values but often use the words coco, coca, bib, babe, noir, tattoo, ditty, rite, diet almost every game adding s whenever available.  There are so many more that seem to pop up often.  You'll find words that resonate with you the more you play.  Ooh...i also like to play when the scoring tally boards change usually midnight but sometimes 6pm est.  Its nice to have that gold, silver or bronze cup if only for a few hours.  There is a new player who is getting over 3 million points, I suspect a cheat program is being used, not my style, to each their own.  Good luck!

[SnowRose47]

You mention using the pause button to stop the clock and find words with more letters. When I pause the clock at any level, a large summary board appears in the middle of the game board. How do you see around or get rid of that summary board so you can find letters?

[carolinajoy]

The lack of information on how to play the game (other than the obvious basics) is what brought me to this forum. I read about the value of some of the letters in a post here, which was a big help. My strategy is just to start on the left and try to knock out 3-4 of those columns before tacking the right side from the middle and up. I grab longer words if I see them, but can move quickly though the three and four letter ones. I try to clear the board, but won't use more than one bomb to do it until I get up into the higher levels (8 and above, usually.) I'd assume longer words are worth more points, but have not read that as fact anywhere. Anyone have info on that? Thanks!

[GinaW223822]

I've played Word Wipe on several different websites for about two years now.  I've settled in on one board the last year where my scores were often the highest.  But another player passed me by many months ago.  And then another, and another but that's been a couple months now, too.  More oddly, some of the players that had similar scores to mine have all of a sudden doubled, and just a few days later quadrupled their regular scores.  I've looked up all the tips I can find... no new strategies to find unless I start pausing which I'd rather not.  

I just don't understand how several players who I've been playing against for two years can all of a sudden... and at the same time... increase their scores.  

[MJmtn22]

They discovered the 2 additional bonus bombs that is an option for each round. I've accumulated up to 22 bombs. However, the AARP Wordwipe game doesn't seem to provide the option to watch ads every single cycle in order to gain 2 additional bombs.  But, it isn't you or them. It may be the game as some offer these extra bombs and some don't. I hope that was clear. (?)

[GloriaAnn]

I would definitely like to know the same thing. How do these people manage to get these scores approaching 400,000. I wish there was a place to read tips. I know if you highlight 3 of the same letter that are next to each other that they will be erased. I've also learned to save my bombs for the later levels. But I just don't see how some people are obtaining those scores. I sometimes make words that are 6 or 7 letters, but I still can't get past 26,000. Oh, and a couple of good Q words are qua and cinq.

[MJmtn22]

As I mentioned above, Wordwipe varies at different sites. Some, like the AARP game are straightforward and it is tough to break 30,000 or 40,000.   However, some other Wordwipe sites provide the option after every screen clearing to add 2 ADDITIONAL bombs if you are willing to watch a short ad every time. This allows inflated scores. I usually can get into the 30,000's on the straight AARP wordwipe game with no additional bomb options. With the additional 2 additional bombs/round options on other sites, I have reached 180,000.  That is likely the difference you are seeing. 

One thing I don't understand is how/why the AARP Wordwipe game posts many high scores of 300,000 when they don't offer the additional bomb option?  I'm guessing that scores from other sites get included in this "parent" site. I could get 500,000 points if I wanted to, but as someone pointed out elsewhere, it requires an investment of hours of time to do it. And life is too short for that!!! 🙂  Hope this helps.  

Try other sites with Wordwipe if you want the "many bomb" option. 

[SusanM351147]

If you figure it out will you come back and tell us??

[SusanM351147]

I get in trouble when there's a Q  - I become preoccupied with trying to line it up with a U, and then hopefully an A or IT. The letter X also gets me trouble at times... I've despaired of ever making the leaderboard and just try to play as long as I can. 

[ReneeB720366]

You don't always need a "U" to use the 'Q."  QIN, QIS, QAT are some "Q" words that require no "U."

[wp79107020]

Something else I just noticed - there's an exit game button.  Click this and you get an Exit screen asking if you are sure you want to exit, and this screen is even smaller than the Pause screen.  So hit the exit button and you pause the game with most of the board revealed, then just refuse the exit to resume play.

[wp79107020]

A number of folks seem to think the game has been hacked, but I think the explanation for the seemingly impossible scores is much simpler:  there's a pause button to the lower left.  When you pause the game a Pause screen covers perhaps a third of the board - just like when the Start screen comes up - but this still leaves a large area of the board visible.  This is a great advantage in a number of ways, if you want to cheat, since it takes away the time pressure and allows you to explore the visible board at your leisure.  Yes, only part of the board is visible but it is still a huge advantage.  You have all the time in the world to find the longest words, or find ways to use the really tough letters, map strategies about how you want letters  to fall, etc. And this advantage, at least to some degree, makes irrelevant the decreasing game times at higher levels.

I think a pause button is essential, but the Pause screen really needs to cover the entire board to disable the cheaters.

[MJmtn22]

It's just my opinion, but I don't think the pause button and screen tinkering can help that much when it comes to mega scores. I can clear the fast clock board (starts at 16 level) every time. But the odds are that the word board is eventually present a case where there are not enough vowels to clear the board - sometimes stranding about 10 rows of the board which would require 3? 4? bombs to clear.   

I explained elsewhere about the 2 additional bombs after every cleared board if you are willing to watch an additional short add. This allows accumulation of MANY bombs to carry along into many additional rounds. I've mentioned that on a straightforward game, it is tough to get to 40,000 - 50,000.  On a board with the additional bomb option, it becomes much easier.  That's not to say that clearing the levels above 16 are ever easy. One must be able to find a work about every second to clear the levels about 16. But having a stash of 15 or 20 bombs is a big help when a tough board leaves you no option but to use them to clear enough levels to continue play. 

If you want to see this, try Wordwipe on other internet sites because most of them have this option. The AARP game does not and after having played the games with tons of bombs, it is often fun and challenging to just play the game straight up with this option. It also improves ones skill in clearing the board without the bandaid of spare bombs and is more difficult. And games are shorter as those 300,000 point games can take hours - I know because I've done it. I hope that helps!

[emdunn]

Where is the pause button??

[MargW372402]

the pause button is at the bottom on the left side at eh very bottom, it looks like this (=) next to the sound on or off. 

[cm9889168]

Hi,  I'm sure this question has been asked but I'm new to this game and read through posts but couldn't find my answer.

I see where the 'bombs' are and I guess I use them when I have a square of letters - but what is the strategy for using them; and do I get more points if they're words?  I checked the help button but didn't see it.  I know there are more points for which letters I use but I think knowing about the 'bombs' would help.

Thank you for any help you can give me

[MargW372402]

I use them when I have a group of all vowels or consonants  and  I cannot see where  I can make a word.

[bluemailman53]

I use the bombs when I get to the last letters on the screen and can't make any more words.  Drag the bomb to the letter and release it.  That letter and all letters touching it will blow up.  They your points will double for clearing the board.  Hope this helps.

[SusanM351147]

I use the bombs when I don't have enough lines cleared to continue to the next level and there are no words left - or I'm running out of time. Since my aim is to play as long as possible (rather than get to the leaderboard) I like to hold onto them for the late rounds. I hope other people will answer this question with more strategies for using them. 

[bluemailman53]

Bottom left of screen under the bonus bombs.

[bluemailman53]

Bottom left of board.  Just under the Bonus bombs.

[SusanM351147]

I've been "cheating" using the pause button. If you're strategic in how you attack the board there will be enough visible below and to the right of the pause screen to bail you out at the end. So I often now make it to 16, but my score still isn't close to the leaders - and time is so short that it seems you'd almost have to plan every move while on pause... There are people who claim to solve the NYT crossword faster than I can type - not saying they're lying, but I prefer not to compare my skills with theirs. Same thing here, but I still want to get to 16, or beyond! Maybe longevity isn't the answer, though, and the trick is to use a bonus bomb to clear the screen and double your points whenever possible? I should try that...

[e480628s]

Thanks for the pause button tip.  I use it frequently.  You asked about bonus bombs.  I use them to clear a screen when I have only a few letters left and no possible word.  A bomb will only eliminate 6-8 closely-bunched letters, so don't waste them if you have more letters than that.  Take your lumps and move to the next round.  The biggest frustration is when you have only 1 or 2 letters left in a round, but no bonus bomb to clear them.

[ReneeB720366]

The bomb will clear a block of 9 tiles; but, the bomb must be touching the middle tile to clear to clear all 9 of them.  

[DonnaR904722]

I learned that you can clear 3 "like letters" to get them out of the way - near the end it helps clear the board.

[LindaP439124]

Practice is the only way to work up the higher score. But they need to give complete rules and instruction, lame.....