A popular word-game app just got a massive makeover
- Zynga launched a new edition of its popular word-game app Words With Friends on Wednesday.
- The new game features variations of the original game that test players in different ways.
- It also added 50,000 words to its "Social Dictionary," including "bestie," "turnt," and "hangry."
Game developer Zynga launched a special edition of Words With Friends on Wednesday, putting a new spin on the popular word-game app.
The new app, called Words With Friends 2, features a streamlined version of its classic Scrabble-like crossword game as well as spin-off variations that emphasize teamwork and skill-building. It's available in the App Store and on Google Play.
In the Lightning Round feature, users are teamed up with other players around the world, trading off turns in a collective effort to reach 750 points before the other team.
Meanwhile, the new Solo Challenge pits players against a series of bots in short, five-turn games. The bots are programmed to play at an increasingly high skill level.
The two mini-games test players in different ways - Solo Challenge requires players to aim for high-scoring plays that limit opportunities for their bot opponent. In the Lightning Round, it's more important to set up your teammates for big scores with plays that would normally be considered unorthodox.
"Words With Friends 2 gives players more opportunities to master their favorite word game than ever before," Bernard Kim, Zynga's president of publishing, said in a statement.
The launch coincides with the recent 50,000-word expansion of the Words With Friends dictionary, which made slang words like "bestie," "turnt," and "hangry" playable.
Zynga called the expansion its "Social Dictionary" because many of the words were requested by the players themselves, director of product Gurpreet Singh told Business Insider.
Gretchen McCulloch, an expert on internet language, praised the addition of the new words to the lexicon, despite potential criticism from language purists.
"It's important to realize what we think of a real word is a social construct," McCulloch told Business Insider. "People invent the words and the dictionary scrambles to catch up."